There's a First for Everything (Harry Potter and Percy Jackson Fanfic)
by Chriz Tine
Summary: What if a witch and a god had a child together? What would be the result? Allison Vergara. She finds out on her eleventh birthday that she is a witch...then the next day, someone tells her than she is a demigod. How can she be able to live in two very different worlds? (Harry Potter is set in HPSC and the camp is set before Percy Jackson was introduced.)
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: THE NEW WITCH

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

Allison Taylor Vergara has never seen her aunt get so flustered her entire life.

See, it was Allison's birthday and her aunt always makes her birthdays fun and unforgettable, but it was just her eleventh birthday, nothing so special about it…or so she thought.

Nearly a week ago, owls invaded their neighbour's front door. _The Dudleys_ Allison thought. She was watching it through the window of their living room. She stood up and went to the kitchen. Pulling a chair towards her, she sat on it quite…comfortably.

"What's with the owls, auntie? The Dudleys own it right? And who's the boy picking them up? They have only one child, right? What was his name? The fat one? Duddleson? Dudders?" Allison asked her aunt Natalya, who was busy making breakfast.

"I have no idea, dear…The owls just appeared out of nowhere! And in broad daylight too!" Allison noticed Aunt Natalya go all evasive and excited at the same time, and she won't meet her eye, she didn't know why. Allison suspected her of something immediately.

 _Something's up…_

"And yes, Allie," said her aunt. 'Allie' was a nickname Aunt Natalie used she's in the mood to be sweet. "they only have one child, Dudley Dursley I believe," Aunt Natalya smiled at her favorite niece as she carefully transferred the freshly cooked bacon and egg onto her plate, then going back to cook some for her.

"And the boy?" She said in between mouthfuls, wanting to know more of the information. Allison took some bread from the plate near her and took a bite.

 _It's the first time I saw him…_

"Oh yes, the boy is Harry Potter, he is…The boy who lived…Most famous w-" Aunt Natalya got a distant look in her eyes as she said this, then shook her head and threw herself away from her stupor, and went back to cooking her breakfast, which she almost got burned…

"Most famous what, auntie?" insisted Allison, taking another piece of freshly toasted bread from counter.

Aunt Natalya shook her head, smiling. "Nothing dear…All I know is that his name is Harry Potter," Her aunt answered from the kitchen.

 _Now I know that something is most definitely up…_

Allison finished the last of her breakfast and asked instead, "So, can you tell me more about the Dursleys and Harry Potter?" she stood up as she picked her plate and went to the kitchen sink.

As she started putting soap in the sponge Aunt Natalya told her, "Oh, nothing much, sweetheart," Then she thought for a while, "Oh, yes! There is one. Now, you didn't hear it from me but I hear that the Dursleys always boss poor Harry around since he could walk and talk! AND—get ready for this part—they're his aunt and uncle! Family, Allie! Family! Ev—I mean, no one knows where Li—I mean his parents were…so, he went to the nearest family they could find, and those are the rotten Dursleys," Aunt Natalya finished her tale just as the doorbell rang.

Allison closed the faucet and wiped her hands on the apron and said, "I'll go get it," when Aunt Natalya, obviously hiding glee, stopped her, saying, "No. No, I'll get it. You just finish the dishes there, Allie," As soon as she turned off the stove she dashes out of the room and opens the door.

 _She's hiding something from me…_

 _What is it?_

Now, Allison Taylor F. Vergara, daughter of Katerina Abigail Fernandez and Arthur James Vergara, half-Filipino and half-British, suspected her aunt of something…like…Well, one time she asked her aunt how their parents died, and she said, "At work. Somehow, at the lobby, something exploded, thus the building collapsed. That's how they died," Natalya Amethyst Fernandez, sister of her mom, has said, but something to her tone made it sound as if what she was trying to say was,

 _I'll tell you when you're older…_

Allison tried to get a glimpse of who the person at the door was, but her aunt—by some miracle—somehow knew she'd be trying to spy and eavesdrop, blocked her view of the person she was talking to and spoke in hushed voices. She's managed to catch a few words. "about time", "knew", "Hogwarts", and "magic".

 _Magic? The bloody hell has this got to do with magic?!_

"Thank you, Minerva," said Aunt Natalya before shutting the door closed. Allison immediately pretends she'd been washing the dishes the whole time, humming an old tune even.

"So, who was that? At the door?" Allison asked casually.

"Oh, no one special, my dear. Just an old friend of mine," Aunt Natalya shrugs, dismissively.

Frustrated, Allison let the subject drop. "Fine…"

A few days later, more and more owls dropped more and more letters at the Dursleys and she could've sworn she'd heard Mr. Vernon Dursley scream, "I want you all here in five minutes to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!" Allison was in her room that time, playing the piano. Her teacher was, once again, late.

 _As usual…_

And so, five minutes later, she saw the Dursleys' car back out of number four drive and caught barely a glimpse of Harry's face peeking out of the back of the Dursley's car. She mostly saw that rotten kid's face bawling about something. And after that was now. 'Now' being, her aunt bustling about because it was her eleventh birthday.

 _How could I ever forget?_

And it wasn't because she was excited or anything, it was because her aunt always wakes her up early in the morning and yells, "It's your birthday, Allie!" And always jumps on her bed….Always…

Aunt Natalya opened (read: slammed) the door with a shout so loud, a lion's roar would be put to shame. Aunt Natalya, as usual, jumped on her bed shouting, "Wake up! Up! It's your birthday, Allie! Up! UP!"

Allison groaned. "Alright! Alright already! I'm UP!" she pushes off her comforters as soon as Aunt Natalya stopped jumping, though she was grinning like a madman. She swung her legs over the bed and slipped them onto those fluffy grey bunny slippers.

She barely gotten herself fully awake and standing when Aunt Natalya grabbed her hand and dragged her down the stairs, almost making Allison trip. ("H-Hey! You're going to make me t-tr—OW!") They headed straight to the kitchen. When they stopped, Allison was trying to catch her breath, hands on her knees, panting. Aunt Natalya seemed like a ball of energy, obviously trying to stop herself from jumping again.

After about what looked like an hour of rubbing her sore shin, Allison stood up erect and nearly— _nearly—_ shouted at Aunt Natalya, "Did you or did you not drink seven coffees?!" she almost yells, furious and exhausted.

"Oh maybe, a _whole jar, I suppose?_ " She giggles like a madman and dashes away to a nearby cupboard, opening it and taking a gold strip of fabric with scarlet designs here and there. Allison marveled at it, frustration and pain forgotten almost immediately. Aunt Natalya gingerly wrapped it around your eyes, blindfolding her. She held Allison's shoulders and started walking.

"Almost there, Allie," Aunt Natalya cooed. A bit later Allison felt the blindfold removed and she could see again.

Her gold and scarlet eyes* landed on a vibrantly wrapped box then on the letter adjacent to it. "Wh-What is it?" she whispered, grateful.

"Open it, luv…"

Slowly, Allison sat down on the couch and reached for the parcel. She gingerly removed the paper which revealed a black leather box.

 _It's quite…small…wonder what's in it…_

She removed the lid and gasped. What she saw inside was an infinite library. She thought of a book and reached in, surprisingly she touched one and when she withdrew her hand, the book was in her hand. She stared at it intently.

"H-How…?" She managed after a while.

"Simple," she started as she grins as like a madman. "Magic." Aunt Natalya stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Allison looked at her as if she'd sprouted a second head.

"Magic?!" She looked at the new gift. "Magic isn't r—" she looked up expecting to see Aunt Natalya's grinning face only to be disappointed.

"Boo," Someone said from behind.

"BLOODY—" Allison almost shouted, but stopped herself when she found out it was her aunt. "Don't do that to m—How did you get there?!" Allison raised an eyebrow at Aunt Natalya then slowly nodded. "Oh, you idiot," she says, smacking her forehead. "Fast-walking of course…" Aunt Natalya was a while ago in front of her, then suddenly sitting next to her at the couch.

She shook her head, again, grinning like a madman. "Dear, it's called apparating. It's like teleporting," she explained. Allison shook her very head vigorously, she felt as if it was about to come off. "N-No…That's not possible! Magic…Magic….IT'S NOT REAL!" Allison, intent on proving that there is no such thing, yelled. Aunt Natalya's grinning face disappeared and was replaced by a calm yet intimidating face.

Suddenly the telly went static, the lights flickered, and the door blasted open. Allison got freaked out, thinking of supernatural things. "Well?" asked Aunt Natalya. Allison stared and didn't answer. Aunt Natalya sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this…"

"I'm a witch, Allison."

Allison gulped.

 _A…A witch?! H-How…Run..RUN ALLISON!_

"You're not going anywhere," Aunt Natalya said sternly as if she'd suddenly read Allison's mind and then suddenly a wand came from nowhere and she shouted, " _Petrificus Totalus!"_ Suddenly, Allison's arms snapped to the sides, her legs closed, and her body slumped in the couch.

"Listen to me, Allison, you're a witch, I'm a witch, your mother's a witch, your father's a wizard. Almost everyone in our clan's a witch or wizard," then her voice softened, "except for our old cousin, Frankie. He's a squib, tell 'ya…" She waved her wand and suddenly, Allison could feel her arms and legs again. "Th-Thanks…" she managed to croak.

There was an awkward silence.

"Listen, I'm sorry if I freaked you out with the 'prove I'm a witch' or something, you just have to understand, been accepted at Hogwarts, the school I, your mom, your dad, and other family members went to…You have to understand what you are, Allison.." Aunt Natalya said this all so seriously that Allison found it hard to believe that this was her aunt.

 _A…A-Alright…I…I'm a witch…_

Slowly she nodded. "O-Okay…" Aunt Natalya scrunched up her nose, as if thinking if Allison truly was believing her. She reached for the letter and handed it to her niece.

"Here, read it, luv,"

She flipped the yellowish parchment over and written in emerald-green ink were the words:

 _Ms. A. Vergara  
The second room to the left  
6 Privet Drive  
Little Whinging  
Surrey_

 _Funny, they know where my room is…maybe..just maybe..magic is really real…_

She opened the parchment and read:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 _Dear Ms. Vergara,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
Term begins at September first. We await your owl by no later than July thirty-first._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress_

Allison re-read the letter a couple more times. "H…Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…th…this…I'm really…a…a..witch?" Allison shrieked happily.

Aunt Natalya finally smiled. "Yes, my dear. That was what I was trying to tell you this whole time. Do you remember the time you wanted to make the roses grow?" asked Aunt Natalya.

Allison nodded. "Yes, of course. Then they sprouted a stem with a white rose bud."

Aunt Natalya smiled. "You see? That was magic. Emotion sometimes affects magic. When you're angry, happy, frustrated, sad, or something." Allison smiled back at her aunt, and then she suddenly remembered a small memory, but she didn't bother ask that, because she knew it was magic, but oh, no no, she doesn't know what kind of magic it was…

"Oh, I do hope you'll be in Gryffindor. Most of our family's been. Either that or Ravenclaw…" Aunt Natalya says, stooping a bit as she wraps her arms around her favorite niece. Allison hugs back.

Aunt Natalya was the first one to break away. "Also, if anyone asks, you're a pure-blood witch, which means, both of your parents are pure-bloods too, " She adds. "There are three kinds of blood status. The pure-bloods," she starts as she ticks it off her fingers. "The half-bloods, and finally the Muggle-borns. Half-bloods are witches or wizards whose one parent is a Muggle or Muggle-born and then one parent is a witch or parent. The Muggle-borns are Muggles who have no idea they're a witch or wizard 'till the day they receive their letter. Like Lily Potter, Harry Potter's mom. She's a Muggle-born. You get my drift? Then, there's the pure-bloods. Pure-blood families are rare, nowadays. Anyway, pure-bloods are witches or wizards whose parents are pure witch and wizard. You understand now?" Aunt Natalya asks Allison, who nods vigorously. Aunt Natalya nodded. "Right. Let's see your needed equipment," she says as she takes the parchment from Allison, who grabs it back immediately. Her aunt looks at her weirdly and Allison realizes that that was completely out of character and rude. "Sorry…I'm just…." She sighed. "Okay, I can't help but get excited, you know?"

With that, she opens that enclosed list and reads it out loud:

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
OF WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

 _ **UNIFORM  
**_ 1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)  
 _Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry tags_

 _ **COURSE BOOKS**_ **  
**All students should have a copy of each of the following:  
 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_ by Miranda Goshawk

 _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

 _Magical_ _Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling

 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore

 _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander

 _The Dark Forces: A guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble

 _ **OTHER EQUIPMENT  
**_ 1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales  
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

 _PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT THE FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS_

"BROOMSTICKS?! Where in Merlin's beard would we need that for?! Pray tell me it's not for flying around and laughing like a mad-" The words came out of her mouth faster than the speed of light. Aunt Natalya grinned and shook her hands from left to right.

"Oh no! It's for playing Quidditch, a wizard sport that involves flying broomsticks," Aunt Natalya explained and Allison breathed in a sigh of relief. Then she also re-read the parchment a couple 'o times.

"Auntie?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Can we buy all this in London?" asks Allison, looking up from the parchment and bored into those amethyst orbs.

"If you know where to go, "says Aunt Natalya with a mischievous wink.

END CHAPTER ONE: THE NEW WITCH

 _ **((A/N: Hallo guys! This is PinoyAko12 here! So this is my first HP fanfic, and please tell me what you think about it! I know, I copied a lot of lines from the book itself, but I promise, I'm not gonna copy the whole book. Please, tell me what you think of Allison Taylor Vergara! Also, physical appearance, attitudes and likes and dislikes will be revealed as we progress into the story.**_

 _ ***Yes. She has this witch/wizard exception that her eyes are different in color. I promise. J.K. Rowling mentioned it in one of her books, I just can't remember what year I think it was during fifth,**_ **Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix** _ **…but literally speaking, there is that kind of disease. Literally speaking means in reality, in the real world, if you didn't know.**_ __ _ **I just don't know what disease it's called.**_

 _ **I am so sorry for any grammatical errors and typographical errors! If I do have them, please message/pm me, and I'll try to change it.**_

 _ **WARNING: UPDATES WILL BE SLOW AND DON'T, PLEASE DON'T, BY ANY MEANS, PRESSURE ME. IF YOU DO, I WILL STOP WRITING THIS. IF YOU WANT FAST UPDATES, THEN LEAVE THIS FANFICTION ALONE AND READ ANOTHER ONE.**_ __ _ **Jus' sayin'…**_

 _ **WUVS!))**_


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: DIAGON ALLEY

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

Allison never expected her eleventh birthday to happen like this. This was completely out of the ordinary! The next day, which was August 1, she and her aunt were on their way to London, on the passenger seat of her aunt's car.

"Here we are, ~" Aunt Natalya chirped happily.

"And where is 'here' exactly, may I ask?" asked Allison as she opens her side of the door and steps out into the fresh London air.

They stopped in front of a grubby-looking pub.

 _I would've never had noticed it if Auntie hadn't pointed it out…_

"Allie, welcome to the Leaky Cauldron," Aunt Natalya says as she swings open the door. "It's a famous place, tell 'ya—what's the bloody ruckus all about?" She nearly yells as she takes Allison's arm and takes her deeper into the pub.

Natalya Amethyst Fernandez was actually a regular here before Allison was born. She used to hang out here until the wee hours of night, then come stumbling home to find Katerina sitting in a chair by the window to give her wild, younger sister a good scolding for venturing out in the afternoon and return in the wee hours of night. That was when she was in her twenties. She'd never do that again.

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last. " A woman named Doris shook hands with a boy wi-

 _Wait, did she say….Potter?_

"Codswallop, Allie! The boy we just talked about! And meet- Ah! I can't-!"

"Natalya Amethyst Fernandez! Fancy seein' yeh here now, don' we?" A very tall and big man swooped down and carried her aunt.

"Rubeus Hagrid! Put me down this instant!" Despite her stern façade, she grinned like a madman. Hagrid chuckled but did as he was told anyway.

Then a pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. Harry, and um…I don' believe I caught yer name, lass," says Hagrid.

"Oh! Just call me Allison for the mean time Mr. Hagrid," says Allison.

"Hagrid's fine," he smiles. "Anyway, Harry, Allison, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you," then he turns to Allison, who was a bit taken aback by how intense and hard his stare is. "Of c-course, A-A-Allison Ve-Vergara, d-did you know tha-that yo-your p-p-paren-"

Aunt Natalya grabbed Allison's shoulders and interrupted, "So! What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" she asked, copying his intense, hard stare of Allison.

He almost jumped out of his skin when Aunt Natalya spoke up. "D-Defense Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as if he was afraid of his own subject.

 _Well…he's an interesting person…_

He turns to Harry again. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought. And he left.

Aunt Natalya spoke up, "I don't think the two of you have been properly introduced. Allison, this is Rubeus Hagrid," He saluted. "One an' only." Then she continued, "Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. Hagrid, this is my niece Allison Taylor Vergara," Allison waves and says, "Hi, Hagrid."

Meanwhile, Hagrid was stroking his bushy, brown beard. "Vergara…Vergara…where have I heard that before…Oh yeah! They were-" Aunt Natalya reacted almost immediately. "Why don't I buy you a drink, Hagrid? Like friends do, when they see each other again after long time? Allison, take a seat on the barstool. Stay there, okay?" And before Hagrid could react, she leads him away and they blend in with the sea of witches and wizards.

"So…you're the famous Harry Potter, then? Nice to meet 'ya," Allison says casually smiling.

"Yeah, I had no idea who and what I was with the Dursleys, and they _knew!_ But they didn't tell me! It was Hagrid who told me what I was, on my birthday," said Harry.

"Oh? When's your birthday?" asked Allison.

"Uhm...yesterday, actually..." said Harry sheepishly. "You?"

She grinned, "That's funny, me too!" Allison exclaims.

 _What a coincidence…_

"Oh really?" asked Harry, gradually smiling. Allison nods and ran a hand through her now yellow-orange hair.

"Did your hair really just…change color?" asked Harry carefully, not knowing if it would offend her or not. Allison, appalled, looked at him as if he'd just swallowed a whole lemon. "Wh-what…? I..It's never happened before!" she exclaimed.

 _Maybe because I already know I'm a witch?_

"M-Maybe because I..um..know I'm a witch…? I'm just going to ask Aunt Natalya later…Oh, and did you know I live in front of the Dursleys? We're basically neighbours," said Allison.

"Well, now I know," said Harry. "I only get to go outside when it's school days and once, when it was Dudley's birthday." said Harry as he looks into her eyes. "Say, do you wear contacts?"

Allison immediately avoided eye contact. "N-No…They're really like that…I've never known why though…" then she looked up and noticed his eyes. "Well, I really like yours. They're like the ink in the letter we received," said Allison.

"Yea, o' 'course he does. Got his mum's eyes, he does, but the spitting image o' his father tell 'ya. " supplied Hagrid from behind. They both spun around, startled. "Blimey! Lassie! Yeh got yer father's eyes!" exclaimed Hagrid, leaning in close to inspect her eyes. Allison instinctively leaned back a bit, startled by Hagrid's big, but nice face. After a while, he leaned back, chuckling. "Yup. Definitely from yer father's alright! Did you know what colour his was?" asked Hagrid. Allison shook her head. "Well, his was cobalt blue and emerald green."

"R-really?"

"Yup. Codswallop, Natalya! Haven't you said anything about her parents? Anything at all?" exclaimed Hagrid at the woman behind him.

"Well, I'll be explaining it to her when we get home. For now, I think it's about time we get to Diagon Alley. Shall we, Hagrid?" asked Aunt Natalya, giggling as if she was a little kid having cotton candy. Hagrid chuckled. "Yes we shall, Natalya Amethyst Fernandez."

The four of them walked through the pub and out into a small courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds here and there.

Hagrid grinned at Harry as he looked for his wand within his coat, rummaging each and every pocket there was. "Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter met yeh—mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

"Is he always that nervous?" piped Allison.

"Oh yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience…They say he met vampires in the Black Forest—" started Hagrid

 _Maybe that's why he looked so terrified when he was supposed to buy a book on vampires…_

"—and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag—never been the same since. Scared o' the students, scared o' his own subject—Blimey, where is my bloody umbrella?" exclaimed Hagrid. He looked as if he wanted to turn his coat upside-out.

"Would you prefer I do it, Hagrid?" asked Aunt Natalya as she took her wand from her purse. Beneath that big, brown, bushy beard, Allison could've bet that he blushed a little. "Oh, alright then,"

When Allison saw what her aunt was doing, she exclaimed, "What the bloody hell are you doing, auntie?"

Aunt Natalya, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the trash can.

"Three up…two across…" mumbled Aunt Natalya under her breath. "Right! That should do it. Stand back everyone!"

She tapped the wall three times with the point of her wand.

The brick she had touched quivered—it wriggled—in the middle, a small hole appeared—it grew wider and wider—a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

The two young people marveled at the street before them. They stepped through the archway. Allison didn't bother looking back. Her head turned every angle possible just to get a glimpse of everything at once. The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons—All sizes—Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver—Self-Stirring—Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," Allison heard Hagrid tell Harry, "but we've got to get yer money first."

A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad…"

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop saying Eeylops Owl Emporium—Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about Harry and Allison's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomstick in it. "Look," Allison heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand—fastest ever—"

 _Oh, so that's what broomsticks look like…_

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instrument Allison had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…

"Gringotts," said Aunt Natalya from behind her.

They had reached a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was—

 _Is that…?_

"That's a goblin alright," supplied Aunt Natalya as if she'd read her mind, _again._

They walked up the white stone steps toward it. The goblin was about a head shorter then Harry, she's noticed. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and Allison noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

 _Enter stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay dearly in their turn.  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there._

 _What the bloody hell was that for?_

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it." She heard Hagrid tell Harry.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. The four of them made for the counter.

"Morning," said Hagrid. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."

"You have his key, sir?"

"Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid, and he started emptying his pockets full of thingamajigs and the like. Allison stared intently at Hagrid with eyes wide as saucers when he scattered a handful of moldy dog biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers, that she didn't realize the goblin turned her attention to her aunt…for the meantime.

"Yes, miss?"

"We've also come to take some money, but from Mr. Arthur James Vergara's vault," said Aunt Natalya, already presenting the key. The goblin held out his long, slender hand and Aunt Natalya placed the key gingerly in it. The goblin inspected the key closely and nodded to himself.

"You have dad's key? How come not mum's?" asked Allison, knowing her Aunt Natalya was her mum's sister, whom she dearly trusted. Aunt Natalya shrugged. "I'm not really sure about that. All I know is your dad has his own vault. As for Katerina…Well, if she did have one, I never knew about it. She could be a mysterious witch when she wanted to be." Hagrid just found the key to Harry's vault when Aunt Natalya finished.

"Got it," said Hagrid at last. Holding up a tiny golden key. The goblin took it and inspected it closely. "That seems to be in order."

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

 _You-Know-What? What do you mean You-Know-What?_

The goblin read the letter carefully.

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you to your desired vaults. Griphook!"

And Griphook was yet another goblin. The four of them followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

Harry asked the question that's been nagging at the back of Allison's mind. "What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?"

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

Griphook held the door open for them. They ended up in a narrow passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. The goblin whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in—"How did the five of us ever fit in this small cart?!" Allison wondered out loud. "Beats me." Answered Hagrid as he managed to get on with some difficulty—and were off.

At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering. The plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

He did look very green, and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke cam billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid as he helped Harry pile some of it into his bag.

"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh."

"Well then, Mr. Vergara's vault next," said Griphook as Hagrid and Harry climbed in into the cart.

The cart sped down a steep slope and went down about twenty-five more feet, then came to a screeching halt once more.

Griphook unlocked the door and Aunt Natalya stepped out of the cart, helping little Allison get out of it. Aunt Natalya held a velvet pouch and filled it to them top with coins. Allison took one last look at their small fortune before climbing in to the grubby cart and Griphook closed it.

"Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"

"One speed only," said Griphook.

"They were going deeper and the air turned a lot more colder as they hurtled around tight corners. Allison had to squint because there was air whipping past her face but she wanted to see this ride for herself too. She saw Harry lean over to the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck. Allison giggled a little, and her hair turned pale yellow.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his fingers and it simply melted away, like mist. It simply vanished.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked in through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook suddenly.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" asked Harry.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. Allison looked at him in horror.

 _Bloody hell!_

Allison had rather Eagle-like vision eyes, and saw a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat, within his many pockets in it.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep my mouth shut," said Hagrid.

One wild cart ride later, they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Allison still can't believe she'd been sitting in a wild cart underneath London, and, heck, it wasn't the best joyride. If she just could—and she would—she wouldn't dare go back.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Natalya, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He still did look a bit sick. Aunt Natalya shook her head, "But I won't be able to guard them, though, I still have to check something out at the Apothecary," then she turned to Allison. "You won't mind if we, um, do something, and slip away for a moment right?" before Allison could answer, the two adults turned and went opposite directions, leaving two underaged witch and wizard, who have no idea what to do once they enter the shop, in front of Madam Malkin's. They looked at each other nervously as Harry pushed the doors and they stepped in, feeling nervous. Harry felt his knees turn knobby and Allison's hands suddenly became clammy.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed in all mauve.

"Hogwarts, my dears?" she asked. "Got the lot here—another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, called for another assistant, and began to pin it to the right length.

The assistant called for helped Allison onto her stool and slipped a long robe over her head, and, like Madam Malkin, began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"Hmm-hmm," was Allison's reply.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then, I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley, and Allison's first thought that came into her mind was, ' _He's a rotten egg.'_

"Have you got your own brooms?" the boy went on.

Harry chose to just let him go on and said, "No."

"And you?" The boy addressed Allison. She, being a fighter somehow, and would never go down without a fight, answered, "Well, my uncle and I are going to buy one later, but they are strict 'stick-to-the-rule-people' and of course, they'll just buy me that just so I'd be happy, and I'll fly it during summer, or the last remaining month."

"And do you play Quidditch?"

"No," said Harry again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. Allison on the other hand, had a billion retorts running in her head.

"My brothers and I, along with some cousins, play sometimes. Well, of course, I just borrow one of my player cousins' broom, of course, since they thought I was still too young to have my own broom then. How about you?" asked Allison.

" _I_ do—Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry yet again, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"Well, my aunt says, it's either I'll be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but I'll bet my arm I'll be in Gryffindor," said Allison.

"Well, most of us first years don't really know until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family's been—imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something more interesting, like Allison. He liked her wit and gut, wishing he got it too.

Allison, on the other hand, didn't say anything, her blood boiling because of this 'rotten egg'.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at them and pointing at three rather large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't.

"Rubeus Hagrid," added Allison.

"He works at Hogwarts," said Harry.

"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second. Allison felt her blood boil.

 _Well, at least Hagrid's got a nicer attitude!_ she wanted to yell at him. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's sort of _savage_ —lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry quite coldly. Allison snickered a bit, quiet enough for the boy not to notice.

" _Do_ you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" the boy asked, seemingly wanting to just talk to Harry and suddenly acting as if Allison wasn't there at all.

"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy. Allison rolled her eyes and sighed, thinking: _Edit: Doesn't have manners and likes to stick his nose in other people's business._

"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were _our_ kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and a wizard, if that's that you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"

But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool. "We'll wait for you outside, Allison," said Harry.

"Yeah, sure," was Allison's reply. Not exceeding five minutes later, she also hopped from the footstool and was Hagrid and Harry outside the door.

"Where's Aunt Natalya?" Allison asked Hagrid, who handed her an ice cream (vanilla with chocolate and strawberry drizzle), said, "Last time I saw her before we parted, she was headin' toward Eeylops. Meanwhile, she asked me to take care of yeh, now, we'll be buyin' the rest of the things you'll be needin'" said Hagrid, as they begin walking away from the shop.

Allison noticed Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

"What's up?" said Hagrid.

"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know—not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry rather glumly. Allison slung an arm over his shoulder and squeezed it a bit. "Oh, cheer up, Harry," He then told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.

"—and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in—"

"Yer not _from_ a Muggle family. If he'd known who yer _were—_ he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parent are wizarding folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles—look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

"So what _is_ Quidditch?"

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. Its like—"

"Soccer, in our previous life, Harry. Muggle life," piped Allison suddenly. Harry nearly forgot she was there and jumped a bit.

"Yeah. Everyone follows Quidditch—played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls—sorta hard to explain the rules."

"And what are Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw?"

"School houses. All those four you just said. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but—"

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily. Allison nudged Harry with her shoulder as if to say that it isn't true. "Well, at least you've got a lineage of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws…" said Harry as he nudged her back. "Oh, come on, cheer up, Harry! I bet my other arm you're in Gryffindor too." was Allison's answer.

"Well, if yeh are in Hufflepuff, which I bet yeh aren't, it's always better than Slytherin," said Hagrid, rather darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

"Vol-, sorry—You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

With confusion evident on her pretty little face, she asked, "Who's You-Know-Who?"

Hagrid shot her a look. "Not you too! I'm gonna strangle yer aunt fer this…" he mumbled. "After Harry, I'm not gonna say it again. Tell 'er Harry,"

"You-Know-Who's real name is Voldemort. Hagrid says people like us don't like saying the name if they can help it. No one does, until now that he's vanished," said Harry.

Allison nodded slowly. "Alright then, I'll just ask my aunt later, then."

The lot of them bought Allison's and Harry's book in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with book as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Allison had to get help from Hagrid to drag Harry away from _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle You Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair-Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More)_ by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley." said Harry. Allison, who loved playing pranks, slapped Harry lightly on the shoulder. "Harry!"

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn't work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

 _Bummer!_

Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough for its horrible smell. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry and Allison, they examined sliver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and miniscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.

"Just yer wand left—oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present.

Harry felt himself go red.

"You don't have to—"

"Yes we do. Harry, pick a present then I'll pay half, then, Hagrid, you the other half, okay?" piped Allison. Suddenly remembering Harry's birthday.

 _Thank goodness Hagrid remembered…_

"But I won't be able to buy you one!" said Harry.

"Why? Is it your birthday too, Allison?"

Allison's hair turned pink and she sheepishly nodded. "Yesterday too…" Harry gave a triumphant grin.

"Oh, I think I know why yer aunt went Eeylops afer we got separated. I bet she's still in there, though," said Hagrid. "As fer you, Harry, I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer an animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, you'd be laughed at—an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dad useful, carry yer mail an' everything."

Harry couldn't stop stammering his thanks. Allison chuckled and happily skipped toward Eyelops. The moment the stepped inside the shop, Allison smiled. And there she was, Aunt Natalya, paying for a beautiful owl. Its head and part of its bodice was colored white, while her claws and the lower part was colored brown. In the middle, there was spots of white mixed in with the brown, creating the effect of snow. Its beady eyes were colored amethyst, like Aunt Natalya's.

"Allie! Hagrid! Harry! What're you all doing here? Don't tell me you've all come by just to come pick me up?" said Aunt Natalya as she stoops down to give her niece a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Oh, Allie, I do hope you'll like her, her name is actually Snowy, but you can change it if you want, but I really think it suits her anyway,"

Aunt Natalya gave her the large cage, containing her owl. Harry and Hagrid went deeper into the shop, looking for an owl Harry might like. "Yeah, I won't change her name. It's beautiful. Oh, and she's got your eyes, auntie," said Allison, marveling at the pretty owl, and the owl, stared back at her, with curious, unsure eyes.

"Well, looks like we've got it. We'll take this if yeh please," said Hagrid, carrying a large cage with a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. With an effortless heave, Hagrid managed to get it on the counter, paying with some gold Galleons.

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which—according to Allison—had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Each child now carried a large cage that held their own, beautiful, asleep owls. Harry still couldn't stop saying his thanks, sounding a lot like Professor Quirrell.

"Don' mention it,' said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from the Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now—only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

They entered the shop and both children felt as if they'd entered a very strict library. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Aunt Natalya said a see you later to Allison, finding it rather cramed and she had nowhere to seat. Allison didn't mind though. It wasn't her fault her aunt's claustrophobic. She gave her niece the pouch and left.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Allison whirled around to meet the stranger. Hagrid must have jumped too, because there was a loud crunching sound and he got quickly off the spindly chair.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.

"Good afternoon, sir," said Allison as she sheepishly waved at the stranger.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. Then those wide, pale eyes shining like moon through the gloom of the shop fixed its quite intense stare to Allison. She avoided eye contact almost at once, though she didn't know why.

"Ms. Vergara! What a pleasure it is to see the both of you at once! I remember what your parents bought as if they bought it all yesterday. Katerina had a dragon heartstring and phoenix feather. Ten inches long. Amazing for hexing and cursing, which your mother was known for," said the man, with a slight wink. "Whereas, James had unicorn hair and maple. Eleven inches. Nice and flexible. Perfect for wizard duels, which your father did all the time he was able to—Well ladies first, Mr. Potter, if that's alright—Will you please hold out your wand arm," said Mr. Ollivander as he moved to the back of the shop. Allison didn't know what wand arm was, so she patiently waited. "I must say, Mr. Potter, you have your mother's eyes. She preferred a wand made of willow. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy. Nice for charm work." he emerged from the back holding a long tape measure with silver markings.

"Your wand arm, dear." said Mr. Ollivander.

"W-Well, I'm right-handed," said Allison. Mr. Ollivander gently took her wrist and held it out. He measured Allison from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round her head. "Meanwhile, your father, Harry, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for Tranfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it—it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." As he said this, Allison noticed the tape measure was doing this on its own, whereas Mr. Ollivander was busy taking down boxes from the shelves and were beginning to pile on the counter.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Well then, Ms. Vergara. Try this—an unusual combination—let's see. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple. Just take it and give it a wave."

Allison took it and had barely raised the wand over her head when Mr. Ollivander took it again. "No…No…No that's no it..maybe….just maybe…" he mumbled. He put the wand in its box and puts it on the other side of the counter.

"Here, try this—beechwood and phoenix feather, nine inches, a bit whippy—Go on, try it out."

Allison yet again tried but Mr. Ollivander yet again snatched it, but instead of grumbling, he seemed to be grinning! Instead of placing it with the first wand she tried, he put it into the chair where Hagrid sat a while ago. Mr. Ollivander was just so intent in finding the right wand that he didn't notice Hagrid, the big guy, standing there, transfixed.

"How about this, Ms. Vergara, ivory and holly, flexible—Go on, take it,"

Allison was feeling a bit silly now, with all this wand-waving stuff.

 _Well, I guess I'll have to get used to it, because I'll be doing all lot of these when term starts…_

And Mr. Ollivander snatched it back, a bit more tries, and wands were beginning to make a small pile on the chair.

"Oho!—Why not—Let's see if this wand chooses you, —A mahogany wand. Ebony and unicorn hair. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration…try it…try it…"

The moment Allison touched the wand, an unfamiliar surge of power went through her and filled every part of her. She raised the wand and sparks flew. Harry clapped, Allison smiled happily, Hagrid clapped and Mr. Ollivander shouted, "Hagrid! You were there the whole time?" asked Mr. Ollivander and he took the wand back from her and put it back in its box. Wrapping it in brown paper, he said, "That would be seven Galleons, please," and Allison took seven Galleons from the pouch and put in it the counter.

"If you would step forward, please, Mr. Potter. I see you friend here has the same wand as your father…took from the same tree too. I wonder…I wonder…" said Mr. Ollivander, mumbling the last part.

"Excuse me, sir, but what do you wonder?" asked Allison politely.

"Well…Transfiguration is a very tricky subject, I must say. Mr. James Potter, was very well at it, and he became an Animagi, too. You'll both learn what that is when you go to Hogwarts."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit a creepy. He had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long white finger.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half-inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…."

He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid, again.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again…Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, than one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you go expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er—yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces though," he added brightly.

"But you don't _use_ them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Allison and Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.

"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well now—Mr. Potter. Let me see. " He took the tape measure from the counter. "Which is your wand arm? Hold it out, please."

Harry held out his right arm. "That's it," He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter, Ms. Vergara. We use unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

"That will do," he said again, and again, the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave.

Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try—"

Harry tried—but he hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no—here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

"Are all the customers that buy their wands from Ollivanders always this tricky?" whispered Allison to Hagrid. Hagrid shook his head. "No. I got mine almost instantly. Some customers are jus' like…this I suppose.." said Hagrid. Allison nodded, as she watched wands pile up into the chair that Mr. Ollivander had put her discarded wands too.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere—I wonder now—yes, why not—this wand," said Mr. Ollivander, as he took the first wand Allison tried. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of lights on to the walls. Hagrid whooped again, and Allison whistled and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well…how curious…how very curious…"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering," Curious…curious…"

"Sorry," said Harry, "but _what's_ curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happened that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather—just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother—why, its brother gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed. Allison felt as if the temperature dropped and it suddenly became too quiet.

"Yes, thirteen-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember….I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter….After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things—terrible, but great."

Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

The late afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry, Hagrid, Allison, and Aunt Natalya made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road: he didn't even notice how much people were gawking at the on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with two owls asleep in its cages on each child's lap. Allison, on the other hand, grinned like her aunt. Yes, like a madman. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.

"Got time fer a bite before yer train leaves," he said.

"Take all the time you need, Harry. We'll give you a ride home," said Aunt Natalya. Harry shook his head.

"No, I'm quite alright—"

"We insist," said Allison.

Harry had no other choice but to succumb to his neighbours' wishes.

Hagrid bought him a hamburger, while Aunt Natalya bought Allison French fries. They sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything seemed so strange somehow. Allison still can't believe that she was a witch; she was in an underground goblins' bank; she bought an owl; she bought her wand; she bought weird-looking things in the Apothecary; and that she was going to Hogwarts in about a month.

"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid. Only then did Allison realize he was right, Harry hadn't said a word after they left Diagon Alley.

He chewed on his hamburger, trying to find the right words. "Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander…but I don't know anything about magic at all,"

"Harry," said Allison, reaching out to hold his arm. "We both know nothing about magic. But that's why we're attending Hogwarts, right? We're going to Hogwarts so we can learn things, things about magic. The Wizarding world."

"But what if I can't do spells? How can they exp ect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol-, sorry—I mean that night my parents died."

Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind that wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.

"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard, But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts—I did—still do, 'smater of fact."

Harry, deciding that they were right, nodded and ate the hamburger. Allison thought it was a pretty good thing that not much people were around, since they had a semi-giant with them and a couple of owls, head under one wing in their own cages. The cashier actually did a double-take on Hagrid, as if she was imagining him. When Allison got the chance, she could see her sneaking a glance at them, as if trying to make sure that they were real alright.

When they finished, they went back to the place where they parked the car and settled in. Aunt Natalya muttered a spell and her Mazda's trunk became large enough for the newly bought things.

Hagrid handed each of them an envelope. "Yer tickets fer Hogwarts," said Hagrid. "First o' September—King's cross—it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me…Or, you can just cross the street and tell Natalya about it…See yeh soon, Harry, Allison."

The car backed out of it's parking slot, without much difficulty. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight, he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the rear window, kneeling against the car's soft seats, but he blinked and Hagrid was gone.

Allison noticed this and grinned, saying, "Oh, come on, we'll see him again soon enough! Now seat properly in your seat or you might get thrown to the front!"

Harry smiled but did as he was told. This might not be as bad as he first thought it would be…


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

"See you around, Harry! Just tell us anything if they treat you badly or anything!"

Harry turned around and waved, mouthed a thank you again and stepped inside his… _home…_

At the sound of a car engine, Dudley peeked from behind the curtain, curiosity overtaking him. Cheeks flushed and puffed in anger, he stomped off to find his mummy. Aunt Petunia opened the door and scrutinized Harry and what he brought with him. Uncle Vernon nearly roared with rage, but thought better of it, sending Harry and his things up into Dudley's old toys room. Dudley, being the spoiled brat he is, begged his mummy to "make him leave!" saying he needs that room for his things (read: old/wrecked toys).

Allison lost control of her body and plopped into her bed, exhausted after all that wand-swishing, walking, going underground. After a while she shuffled her aching feet toward the closet to change into some more comfortable house clothes. Plopping into her bed again, she tried to go to sleep, but no matter how tired she feels herself to be, she just couldn't bring herself to sleep. Too excited for September first.

Her hair unconsciously turned pink and orange with light-yellow streaks to match her mood, though she hasn't noticed it yet. Frustrated and restless, she decided to make a small calendar, counting down to September first, since the only calendar in their house was in Aunt Natalya's bedroom.

Allison itched to get her wand and try it out, but, unfortunately, it was currently in Aunt Natalya's custody. She said "You'll get to use it soon enough." She sat on her bed, trying to think what she wanted to do. Snowy, her owl, hooted in her cage, as if trying to get Allison to get her out. Allison wished she could understand Snowy, like she understood the snake that was wandering aimlessly across their lawn. She, being a young child then, begged the snake to go away, and it replied in perfect English, and it left without such a problem. She didn't tell Aunt Natalya this…she just didn't want to for some reason.

Allison stood up and opened Snowy's cage. She jumped onto her outstretched arm and nipped lightly at her ear. She giggled a little bit, stroking her owl's soft, white feathers. She opened the window and Snowy flew out into the colourful sunset, wide wings flapping lightly to her alight. Allison watched her owl until she couldn't see her anymore. Having nothing left to do, she took the letter from her bedside table and re-read it. A certain detail caught her eye and her eyes widened the size of saucers.

She scrambled out of bed, not bothering to wear she fluffy grey bunny-ears slippers. Allison clutched the parchment tightly in her hand, the other running down the banister. Her bare feet came thundering down the stairs. Her multi-colored (for now) hair came whipping behind her. "Auntie! We didn't send an owl! It specifically said, 'We await your owl by no later than July 31'. Auntie! Auntie! We forgot to send an owl! AUNTIE!" screamed Allison.

"Allison!" scolded Aunt Natalya, thundering into the living room. "Haven't I told you a million times that it's inappropriate to run down the stairs? You could've slipped and broken something! And you barefooted! And you're _shouting!"_ Aunt Natalya bellowed. Allison ignored this and thrust the paper in her face. "Read."

Aunt Natalya glared daggers at her, but she stood firmly. Allison watched Aunt Natalya's eyes read the letter. And she finally spoke, "What?" asked Aunt Natalya asked, one eyebrow raised.

"'We await your owl by no later than July 31'." Allison read out loud. "Well?"

Aunt Natalya seemed to have understood and burst out laughing, nearly doubling over even. " _What's so funny?!"_ Allison said rather hotly. Aunt Natalya's laughs reduced to giggles, and wiped a tear from her eye as she spoke, "Allie, didn't it—at least once—cross your mind that I have or didn't need to send it?

Her niece's cheeks and hair turned the brightest shade of pink it could go without turning white. "Wh-what…?" she stammered.

Aunt Natalya smiled and spoke, "I didn't send an owl, yes," and Allison's face drooped a bit. "but I already told Professor McGonagall that you would be attending, so I had no need to send an owl, besides," she grinned her signature grin—like a madman. "why would we have gone through that adventure for nothing?"

Allison's hair turned a bright shade of yellow-orange. "R-really?! You-you've got to be kidding me? Are you serious, auntie?" exclaimed an ecstatic Allison. She folded her arms up to her chest and her fists were balled up. Her feet kept shifting weight rather quickly. Honestly, she looked like a school girl who got a new toy because she got a perfect score on an exam.

Aunt Natalya knelt down so that the two of them facing each other's eyes. "Give me a valid reason to break my vulnerable niece's heart?" asked Aunt Natalya sweetly. She took her niece's nape and brought Allison's forehead toward her, kissing Allison's forehead.

Allison looked as if she ate a dozen chocolate eclairs, drank a dozen softdrinks, and all the other sweets you could possibly think of. She squealed, and began jumping up and down. It was as if the 'school girl' inside her was there all along, waiting to be activated. Her hair turned into yellow-orange spikes, and since her hair was a bit long—until her mid-back—her hair looked like a bright-colored sea urchin.

"For a while there I seriously thought that we didn't write back," sighed Allison. Her hair turned back to its usual color, which was, light brown that gradually turned blonde when it reached the bottom. It looked like it was dip-dyed, but it isn't. It was her hair color when she didn't feel emotion, for the meantime.

Aunt Natalya chuckled. "How could I ever forget that?" Allison giggled and shook her head. "My sentiments exactly! You forget nearly everything!"

"Oh, do I?" asked Aunt Natalya, raising an eyebrow. Despite her crossed arms, shifted weight, raised eyebrow, and intimidating stature, she was grinning—yup, ya'll guessed it—like a madman.

Allison threw up her arms, exasperated, but smiling. "Yes!"

"I didn't forget your birthday, oh wait, I never do." Aunt Natalya said, quite smugly. Allison gaped.

"Oh, yeah…well, we'll make an exception then!" chirped Allison happily.

Aunt Natalya took her in a headlock and ruffled her hair, despite Allison's squirms and squealed. "I don't forget everything you know."

Allison wriggles out of her Aunt's grip and fixes her hair that was in shambles. Fixing her hair, she tells Aunt Natalya, "Whatever you say, auntie," She starts to head back to her room. "Oh," her hand stays still on the handrailing as she turns around to face her aunt. "And, please cook dinner? I'm starving…" She begins to climb the stairs to her room. She opens the door and plops onto her bed, gradually drifting into a dreamless sleep.

"Allison, sweetheart!" Aunt Natalya called from downstairs. Allison moaned, not wanting to get up from her bed. She rolled around, laying on her side, placing her other pillow across her ear, which muffled any kind of sound.

 _Why now of all times?!_

"ALLISON! Bring your lazy arse here this instant!" And Allison's eyes snapped open. The mere fact that Aunt Natalya screamed her name and cursed was enough. She scrambled out of bed, the pillow landing on the floor in the process with a soft 'thud'. She didn't even bother to wear her bunny slippers, she just burst through the door. Allison slid down the banister barefooted, in pajamas, and a messy mop of brown-blonde hair whipping behind her.

Allison hasn't even reached the end, she jumped down as soon as she thought was safe, and rounded down the corner, to the dining room—which they also call the kitchen because the kitchen and dining room were near the other. Hands on her knees, she inhaled deep breaths. When she felt her lungs were filled once more, she looked up, only for her different-colored orbs land on the most unruly mop of jet-black hair she'd ever seen.

"Hi," Harry Potter waved at her. She stood transfixed at the spot, but she managed a forced smile—which she hoped didn't look too fake—and did a little waved. "Hey, Harry. Fancy seeing you here." Her eyes moved to her aunt, which was behind Harry holding him by the shoulders, grinning like a madman. Allison's hair unconsciously turned the palest shade of pink you could ever hope for.

"Auntie, can talk to you for a moment?" said Allison in the sweetest voice she could muster. Confusion flashed across Aunt Natalya's face for a moment but was gone as fast as it came. Aunt Natalya reluctantly let go of Harry as she went to her niece, but telling Harry to take a seat first. Harry did, rather stiff. Allison took her aunt's wrist and dragged her into the hallway.

"Why didn't you tell me Harry was coming over for dinner?" Allison hissed at her aunt, who shrugged nonchalantly. Her hair looked so much like fire, she was kind of surprised she didn't burn herself. "I just embarrassed myself in front of a person I just met on the same day! He must think I'm such a klutz now!" She whisper-yelled.

Aunt Natalya raised her hands in surrender. "How should I know that you were snoozing around all day? It's not my fault you sleep heavily and manage to ruin your hair and all. And the only person who could understand that is actually Harry Potter himself!" She finished. They went to the dining room and Aunt Natalya sat next to Harry, who sat there, being quiet.

"Would the two of you excuse me? I'll just go upstairs to freshen up and change my attire." She glared at Aunt Natalya as she said this, who in turn, grinned like a madman at her. Harry's eyes moved back and forth between the two, feeling like a third wheel.

Allison stomped up the stairs so loud, she could feel the dust fall from the ceiling of the cupboard.

In the end, she tied her hair up in a ponytail, with simple black shirt and white house shorts. She slid down the banister and gracefully landed on the ground. She swept her long ponytail to the right and headed towards the kitchen, where Harry and Aunt Natalya ate supper, while chatting lightly.

She leaned against the doorway and silently watched the two. She realized that Harry James Evans Potter wasn't a stuck up at all! During the first time she met him, her really first thought was that Harry was a stuck-up, annoying, narcissist because of the fame he got in the incident with him and You-Know-Who. She thought he would be bragging on and on until the sky's the limit. She grinned, clearing her throat to acknowledge them she was there. They looked at her. Aunt Natalya stood up to take a plate and the other essential stuff.

"Hi Harry," she says as she sits down on her chair. Aunt Natalya swoops in and put the plate in front of her like a professional. "Hello, Allison." Harry waves back just as Aunt Natalya settles back down in her chair. Allison had barely touched her food when the doorbell rang. Aunt Natalya made a move to stand, but Allison was faster. "No, I'll get it," said Allison.

Harry's gaze follows her figure as she runs down the corridor. _She's really energetic…and short-tempered…_ he thought. The doorbell rang again, and this time, she called out, "Wait just a second!" she skidded to a halt as she held the doorknob and pulled the door open. "Good evening. How may I help yo—" Her sentence was cut off once her eyes landed on the person in front of her.

 _A…A…mirror?_

The person who stood there had her hair.

The person who stood there had her eyes.

"Wh-who are y-you?" stuttered Allison. For a while there, she thought she had bit her tongue and made herself mute. She was actually thankful her voice worked. Allison stared at the person in front of her. It looked exactly like…like… _her…_

"I'm not surprised at all," the person rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Aunt Natalya didn't tell you, did she?" he asked. Surprisingly, she found his stare intimidating, and that was saying something. Usually, it was her who had the intimidating stares, not her being intimidated…

"Tell me wh—You still haven't answered my question!" she asked rudely, not even bothering to keep her voice in check. She also noticed that this guy was foreign. She thought he had and American accent, basing on their short and… _rude_ "conversations"

He grinned. "Oh, how rude of me!" he says in mock shock. "I forgot how you _English_ —" He said the word with such venom, which made it sound as if he wanted to kill the entire British race. "are very _particular_ with formality…" He finished the sentience with a mock bow. "John Tyler Fernandez Vergara, at your service," He smiled devilishly as he stood up. Then they heard a cough. Followed by another cough. John Tyler looked behind her then at her again. He raised an eyebrow. "Well? Aren't you gonna let me in, _my dear sister?_

Allison felt as if the whole world was put on her shoulders. "S-sister?!" She exclaimed as she whirled around to meet the nervous emerald-green eyes of Aunt Natalya. "Care to explain all of this, _my dear aunt?"_ Meanwhile, John Tyler sidestepped her and entered the house. His bi-colored orbs (which were the same colour as Allison's) took in the nice house, while his hands were placed comfortably and the back of his neck. Harry followed him with his green eyes. His facial features looked like Allison's, that's true. But his hair was really different from her's: Her's changed according to her mood. His didn't change at all, but it was the color of red-velvet, with the tips dipped with the color of ice. He also held in his hands a baseball cap.

Harry looked at Aunt Natalya and Allison, bickering away with the door wide open. Then he looked at John Tyler, lounging on the couch comfortably. He approached him and sheepishly said, "Hello." John Tyler looked at him and it was unnerving, the way his eyes looked at Harry. Unlike Allison's eyes which were full of warmth, his could put the Antarctic to shame. "Whaddya want, you Brit?" John Tyler snapped. _'Well, I see his not much of a nice person now, is he?'_ though Harry, but he persisted. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter. Pleasure to be your acquaintance." He stuck out his hand to him, and John Tyler stared at it. Finally he averted his gaze and out put the baseball cap back over his face, covering his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You British and your formalities, tsk." He clicked his tongue. Harry slowly retracted his hand that was still stuck out to him. "The name's John Tyler. TJ for short." And with that said, he finally shut himself off from the world.

Allison wanted to rip off her brain from all the information it's processing right now.

She recently discovered that John Tyler, or as "His Majesty" preferred, TJ, was her half-brother, and apparently, Aunt Natalya had known about it all this time…

And she also discovered something that she had a hard time believing…

He was a Greek demigod…

And if _she_ was _his_ _ **sister**_ _…_

It could only mean one thing…

She was also a Greek demigod…

"Wait," Allison says as she finally let go of her own hair. "You mean, dad's not really my dad?" Allison asks incredulously. TJ rolls his eyes for the unth-time. "How many times do I have to _explain?!"_ He bellows. "Yes she isn't you dimwit!" Allison glares at him. "Easy for you to say! You've been at Camp Half-Blood for 3 and half years!" Allison hollers back. " _It's not even that hard to understand!"_ TJ howls, and suddenly his hair lit aflame, and in his open palms were two mini balls of fire. Allison snaps her eyes and mouth shut, counting from one-ten.

"You better make that fire die out, nephew, or I'm gonna douse it myself…" Aunt Natalya said. There was something wrong with her sentence, but Allison just can't put her finger on it. TJ laughed heartily. "Oho? Dropping your cover and suddenly you have an American accent now, huh, auntie?" TJ said mockingly. Allison's eyes widened. That's it! Her British accent suddenly disappeared, replaced by an American one. "You don't want to get to my bad side, John Tyler…I'm still a witch…" Aunt Natalya glowered.

TJ snickered. "Yeah? And I'm a son of Ares, which, by the way is the god of war, have I told you?" and he raised his hands as if in surrender, but he was actually showing off his lit hands. Aunt Natalya grimaced a little. "I hate you…" TJ snorted. "Like I don't know already…"

Allison had had enough. Two days ago, she was told that she was a witch, and now, some lost brother decides to show up at her door and tell her that she's the daughter of a Greek god. "Wait, you haven't even told me my godly parent yet. And how do you know all of this stuff? Did you read it somewhere, or did someone tell you, or did you just "stumble upon it"—"

TJ's finally fire finally died down a bit so that it wasn't red flame, but the cool blue one. "Gods, aren't you such a machine gun! Didn't anybody tell you to shut your mouth?" Allison opened her mouth to protest, but TJ beat her to it. "Shut up. You asked the questions. Do you want me to answer them or not?" snapped TJ.

Allison rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. She nodded at him and he continued. "According to what I've gathered and heard, you're a daughter of Hephaestus, god of fire and crafts or the two together. A-and…" TJ faltered. Allison raised an eyebrow. "What?" TJ was quiet for a while, then he suddenly blurted out, "You can manage to get to Long Island, New York right now, right?" He wasn't talking to Allison anymore, for his eyes were directed toward Aunt Natalya, who nodded eagerly. "Wait, what?" Allison butted. "How can that be—"

Aunt Natalya looked at her. "My dear, it's called Apparating, don'y you remember?" and she grinned at her like a madman.

About an hour later, 8 o'clock in the evening, Allison had her bags packed. She only had a backpack and a duffel bag, both full of clothes. She'd barely wrapped her head around the witch thing, and now, the Greek gods thing. She pinched herself just to be sure that she wasn't dreaming. "Ouch…" she mumbled, rubbing her arm. Allison stood in front of her full-body mirror. TJ advised her to wear shorts or knee-high pants. Allison went for the latter, and her shoes were low-cut gray Converses. She threw on a loose matching grey tee. Allison checked herself on her mirror again, and felt as if something was missing…

"Ah!" Allison exclaimed. And took her ponytail from her bedside table and tide her hair into a ponytail then into a messy bun, which she made sure left her bangs out. Then she took her black beanie from her drawer and put it on her head in a slouchy beanie way. Her hair was in "normal-mode" for now.

"OI! Airhead! What's taking you so long?" TJ shouted from downstairs. Allison gritted her teeth. "I'm coming, you Pompous Brat!" She grabbed her backpack and duffel bag from her bed and went downstairs. She realized with a start that she wasn't able to say goodbye to Harry. In between their bickering, Harry approached Aunt Natalya and said goodbye, taking Snowy with him, saying he'll take care of her.

She opened her bedroom door and slid down the banister again and landed gently downstairs. "Here I am you Pompous Brat." She told her half-brother, who was glaring at her. He scoffed. "About time Tinkerbell…"

Allison left eye twitched. "Bugger off git…" Instead of getting annoyed, he laughed. "'Bugger off git.' Really?! That English accent o' yours' really funny, didn't you know?"

"ARGH! JUST SHUT UP!"

"STOP IT YOU TWO!" Aunt Natalya finally yelled. Allison noticed a vein in her right temple was throbbing, and she decided to shut up instead. TJ however glared at her. Being a son of the war god, he naturally had a short temper, and always had the urge to fight with somebody. "Just do your thing already will ya?"

Aunt Natalya gritted her teeth. "On it kid." Then she gently led the two towards the door. "Go outside for a while, I'll go lock up the house," Then she went inside again, closing the door behind her.

Allison took one look at her half-brother, who had his hands resting on his nape, and was looking at the skies, the gentle wind ruffling his hair. She blushed and looked away. Even though he was her half-brother, she can't help but think he was cute, she'll give him that, but he was too rotten for her. Besides, they're still…related.

She sat down on the porch, resting her elbows on her knees and her head on her palms. Her half-brother sat down next to her, but still kept a respectable distance. Minutes later, Aunt Natalya came outside. "Let's do this guys," she said then took Allison's hand in her left. "Hold TJ's too please." Allison gave her a look of pure -horror. "No." Aunt Natalya rolled her eyes. "Fine then! Dammit…" then took TJ's hand in her right. ("H-Hey!")

Then just like that, they disappeared from their porch, dust swirling around in their wake.

They appeared right in front of an archway. It was in Latin, she was surprised to see that she understood what it said. "Camp Half-Blood…"

 _What the hell?_

"Well?" TJ asked. "What are you waiting for? We have to report to Chiron immediately! Oh, and Annabeth too…" TJ said from inside the archway, which surprised Allison. One moment he was next to her aunt, the next he was inside Camp Half-Blood, waiting impatiently for them.

"I'm coming you Pompous War-Freak…" She grumbles, as she trudged toward her half-brother. A few steps after, she realized that her aunt wasn't moving. "Come on, auntie. What're you waiting for?" asked Allison.

Aunt Natalya replied, "I can't." at the same time TJ said, "She can't."

Allison raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I'm still mortal."

"'Cause she's mortal. Only half-bloods are able to enter and some…creatures," he added hastily, then continued. "Bah! Chiron and Mr. D will, hopefully, explain them to ya. Come on!" and for the first time, TJ smiled.

Aunt Natalya smiled sadly at her niece. "I have to go, Allie. I can't enter anyway, besides," she kissed Allison's forehead. "You belong here too." And with that she disapparated.

Allison made a sound on the back of her throat. She suddenly realized something quite important: How could she have her dad's eyes, when her "dad" wasn't even her real dad? Her _real_ dad was a Greek god. But, she guessed the question will have to wait, and she shrugged. She fixed her beanie and went through the barrier. Immediately she saw her fellow campers and some occasional…

 _Is that…Is that a_ _satyr?!_

Satyrs were milling around. Some were training along with the other half-bloods, some were mingling with pretty girls…that had a different…skin color…

"OI!" TJ snapped her back to her senses. She hadn't even realized that she stood transfixed a…most unlikely place to stop: She was in the archers' way. "Come on! You just had to stop right when they've nocked their bows! Argh!" TJ exclaimed, frustrated. He took Allison's wrist and dragged her to at looked like the main building of the place.

"We call it the Big House, feel free to call it that too. Oh look," He pointed at a girl sitting at the porch reading a book. Her nose was so near, it was almost touching her book. She was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and shorts. She had curly blond hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She had a very intense expression on her face that made Allison intimidated, and she hadn't even talked to her yet.

"Yo! Annabeth! Hey Chase!" TJ called, which made the girl look up. Allison realized that her eyes were the color of storm clouds that were constantly moving. It was a beautiful gray color, Allison was mesmerized by it.

"What do you want Vergara?" Annabeth looked annoyed at TJ, since she was half-glaring at him, and she called him by his surname. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one foot. Allison realized with a start that she had a knife strapped to her waist, and a leather necklace with four beads with them, but they were all different. Allison wondered what they stood for.

"Got a new one 'ere. I've been told that she's my half-sister, daughter of Hephaestus but she's still technically unclaimed. So, yes, she'll be in Cabin 11." TJ reported. Annabeth regarded him then seemed convinced, and switched to Allison. "You must be Allison Taylor Vergara. I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle—"

"Gods Annabeth! Do you really have to address your mom like that? It's just that, every single—"

"—strategy. Pleasure to meet you." Annabeth continued as if TJ never even spoke a while ago, and she acted as if this were a daily occurrence, which made Allison wonder…

 _Is it?_

"Hello, Annabeth, pleasure's all mine." was Allison reply. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, this might sound rude, but, are you British?" asked Annabeth. Allison did not see that coming, but answered anyway. "Yes, of cou—"

"So much for your mother, did you seriously have to ask that? Can't you hear her accent?! It's obviously British!" TJ snarled. Annabeth glared at him. "I was just checking! And if you're so smart let's see who'll win Capture the Flag this Friday then! Let's see!"

"Ha!" TJ grinned, as he'd already won. "My father is the war god—"

"Yeah, I know. And my mother is the goddess of wisdom and _battle strategy."_ Annabeth said smugly.

 _Woah, she's one smart lass. Better not get in a fight with her. Or with her mom…_

TJ scowled. Annabeth grinned. "Go on with your afternoon activities. I'll bring her to Chiron. And remember my challenge Vergara! Consider it!" she called after him, as he trudged away toward the stables.

"Oh come on Chase!" TJ turned around, arms raised. "We both know who's gonna win! Who's won ever since? The Ares Cabin of course!" and TJ went away, chuckling.

Annabeth regarded Allison. "Come on. Let's get you to Chiron."

END CHAPTER THREE: LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: I Become A Mythological Being

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

Okay, so listen up. I've barely wrapped my head around the witch thing, so don't ask me how I believed the whole Greek gods thing, okay?

Okay.

So, my name is Allison Vergara. Eleven years old, and I've recently known that I'm an unclaimed demigod.

Annabeth regarded me. "Come on, let's go see Chiron."

We entered the Big House, as TJ, and along with many others, called it he said.

I almost tripped.

In front of me was a centaur. You know, half-man, half-horse? Okay, so he had the upper torso of a man, and lower body of a white stallion. It was so white, it looked like snow. "Hello Annabeth, Allison." How he knew my name, I had no idea. "Hello, Chiron. This is—"

"I know, Annabeth. Leave us, please. I shall explain things to our new demigod camper." Chiron regarded me with soulful eyes that bore into my very core. It looked as if nothing could ever pass him unseen. I felt that nothing could be kept secret from this person—horse—centaur—Oh whatever!

Annabeth bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something more, but restrained herself. "Alright then Chiron, I'll be in my Cabin when you need me." She said, and left me with this centaur-man-something.

Chiron smiled at me "You're probably wondering what's happening, or that you're probably thinking that you're dreaming or something. You're not. Pinch yourself." Chiron instructed me. I did, and it hurt. "Ow…" I muttered. I pinched myself quite hard, and it hurt. "You're actually lucky," His…uhm…tail flicked nervously. "Most demigods have a monster chasing after them because of their scent."

At that, I thought of something vital. "If I'm a demigod, that means I'm part Greek god right? So one of those god—Olympian or minor—is my dad?" I asked. Chiron nodded. "Yes—"

"And that means that I have godly blood in me, right?"

"Well, yes—"

"Then why were there no monsters running after me?"

"I'm on it!" Chiron exclaimed, annoyed. I stepped back a bit, hands raised instinctively. "I-I'm sorry, my child…" Chiron sighed, rubbing his temple. He motioned for me to follow him. I did, eyebrows raised in question. Chiron put his hands on the railing overlooking the creek. "Again, I'm sorry for snapping at you, my child. I've never experienced a demigod as…energetic as you since the Stolls…"

Wait, did he say "stoles"? What kind of surname is that? He sighed again. "Well then, I'll be explaining things now Allison. Take a seat wherever you may please…" He paced, tail flicking nervously again. I took a chair and sat comfortably on it. I stared at Chiron as he paced the room. After about five minutes pacing, he finally spoke, "I have a felling Annabeth would want to hear this…She's been at camp longer than anyone else. I think she will have some theories about you…Oh, and Allison?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you're a witch." At that, he winked and picked me up onto his back. I nearly fell, but I gripped onto his neck. "Sorry," I mumbled.

And we went to the cabins. We passed demigods playing volleyball and demigods attending their arts and crafts class. We had to cross the lake to reach the cabins, which were lined up in a U. I noticed there were brass numbers on the cabins. Odds on the left, evens on the right. They all faces a commons area that was the size of a soccer field. Big, right? There were Greek statues everywhere, fountains, flower beds (especially on Cabins Four and Ten), and some basketball hoops.

I noticed Cabins One, Two and Three looked empty. "Hey Chiron?" We were trotting across the commons. Some demigod campers waved at us, and Chiron waved back. "Yes?" he answered. "Why do the three cabins up front look empty?"

"Cabin Two is dedicated to Lady Hera, wife and sister of Lord Zeus, goddess of families and marriage." Now that he said it, Cabins One and Two did look a bit like his-and-hers mausoleum, big white boxes with heavy columns up front. Cabin One was the bulkiest and biggest of the twelve. I noticed that as we trotted across the commons, lightning seemed to flash across its polished bronze doors. Cabin Two seemed more graceful somehow, with thinner column decorated with plants and flowers. The walls were decorated with peacocks. "And Cabin One, well, I think you catch my drift, Allison."

"I suppose One's Zeus'?" I asked. "Correct, my dear. Lord of the sky, ruler of Olympus. Cabin Three is Lord Poseidon's, god of the sea." I looked at Cabin Three. It wasn't high and mighty like Cabin One, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.

"Lady Hera's cabin is, naturally, empty. She is the goddess of families and marriage after all. It would be shocking to see a demigod come here and be claimed by Lady Hera." He chuckled. "The Big Three, or namely, Lords Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, lord of the underworld, made a pact never to sire children after World War II. Seeing as their children were…very powerful, unpredictable, and attract monsters easily. That's why no demigod resides in those Cabins. And there is no Cabin for Lord Hades. We..uhm…don't count him as an Olympian…"

"Then why not just remove them?" I asked. I have yet to wrap my head around this thing, so, I might as well gather as much knowledge as I can.

I lurched forward, and then I realized Chiron meant to do it. " _Di immortales!_ My child, they are gods." Chiron chided as we continued on our way. We stopped as archers—or Apollo's children as Chiron said—fired arrows into targets about ten feet in front of them. There were about twenty archers in total, and about eighteen of them got bull's eye. A blond guy with blue eyes flashed a smile at me and waved. I didn't know what else to do, so I waved back, with a small grin. We reached Cabin Six, where I saw Annabeth seated the porch. "We have to honor them of course. They have very short and very thin tempers, even if Lady Hera's is honorary. Lady Artemis, or Cabin Eight, is an eternal maiden, which also explains the empty cabin." With that explanation, he put me down and Annabeth looked up from her book. I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.

Annabeth's face lit up. "I told you so, Chiron." And she put her book down and went to us. I realized that two of us would probably be too heavy for Chiron, so I was about to refuse if he wanted to give me a ride again, but fortunately, he started walking toward the direction that we came, meaning we had to walk back by foot. "Which part did you have trouble explaining, Chiron?" Annabeth teased. Chiron didn't answer, but I could see the hint of a smile on his face, but I decided not to mention it. The fact that he didn't want to show it was probably enough reason that he didn't want to acknowledge to Annabeth that she was right.

"Why are some of the Cabins overflowing with campers?" I asked. Chiron hadn't explained the whole cabin thing to me, and, I was hoping with Annabeth here with me, she would be able to explain things easier to me, but Chiron did that for me.

He cleared his throat. "Now, to the unanswered question. Cabin Eleven, or the Hermes Cabin, is dedicated to Messenger god, Hermes. God of travelers, merchants, medicine, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors, so all the undetermined demigods are going to stay there for the while that they are unclaimed. That's why it is the cabin with most campers." Chiron explained.

"Wait, so I'll be staying there for the duration that I'm unclaimed?" I asked. He nodded. "But let's not be picky. You'll find yourself enjoying the company." Chiron was trying to sound upbeat about it, but I silently prayed to my dad—whoever he was—to please, please, please claim me. "So, are all those demigods children of Hermes?"

"Oh no," Annabeth said quickly. "Some demigods…well, let's just say that some of the gods sire a lot of children and well, they might be too busy to claim their own children…" Annabeth seemed sad to explain this to me. I felt that same way too. I thought about that demigods hoping that their godly parent would claim them, but never will. That thought made me pissed, but I counted from one to ten, and my anger dissipated a little. "One last question, can you please cite the Cabins and their gods? I never really got myself interested with Greek myths…" Now I know why Aunt Natalya has been forcing me to read all those books about Greek myths.

"Cabin Four is for Lady Demeter," Chiron started. "She's the goddess of agriculture, wheat, bread, cereal, and all that concerns farming. Cabin Five is for Lord Ares, the god of war. Your brother's father."

Annabeth continued. "Cabin Seven and Eight is for the twins, Lord Apollo and Lady Artemis. Lord Apollo is the god of archery, music, poetry, prophecies, shepherds and cowherds, healing, the sun, and he invented the lyre." I stared. "Can a god be a god of so many things?" Annabeth nodded. "I know right? Anyway, moving on, his twin sister, Lady Artemis is the goddess of childbirth, the protector of newborn babies and young children, goddess of wild animals, and the moon. She also made the Hunter of Artemis. They are alike yet different at the same time. It's kind of hard to explain.

"Cabin Nine is for Lord Hephaestus," at that, my ears perked up. TJ mentioned me being a child of this god, but it's still unofficial. I'm still an unclaimed demigod. "God of blacksmiths and craftsmen, and fire. Tyler said that you're a child of Hephaestus." I nodded. "Wait, Tyler?" Annabeth stared at her. Her look said something like, _Oh shoot._ I stared at her suspiciously. "I while ago you called my brother Vergara, which is our surname, and now you call him Tyler? He didn't even tell me that he wanted to be called that…" Annabeth said nothing and bit her lower lip. She was looking straight ahead, and if I had known better, she looked as if she was blushing. I decided to let it go…but…nevermind.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Moving on, Cabin Ten is for Lady Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. And lastly, Cabin Twelve, for Lord Dionysus, or some of the demigods may call, Mr. D. The god of wine, anyone who was experiencing identity crisis, and he can turn anyone mad if he wished." Chiron finished. "That about it. Twelve Cabins for Twelve Olympians."

Without noticing it, we've reached the Big House, and suddenly I remembered our original agenda. We stepped inside and immediately sat down on a nearby table. "So…" Annabeth cleared her throat. "What're we gonna talk about?"

"Before we went to fetch you, we were talking about...well…Annabeth, you do know about her identity, right?" Chiron asked. Annabeth nodded. "About her being a…you know…witch?" "Yes. Exactly. I told her that she was lucky not to have monsters chasing after her—"

Annabeth stiffened. "Oh..right..I'm very sorry, my child. I didn't mean to…Anyway, she then began to wonder why. Do you have any theories? I have…but, would you like to go first?" Chiron asked. Annabeth shook her head. "I'd like to hear you opinions first, if you don't mind Chiron."

Chiron nodded once. "Right." He looked into my heterochromatic eyes, which I realized that the two of them didn't acknowledge yet. "We think that your whole race, witches and wizards, all of you…" Chiron sighed. "I'm thinking that you are all somehow descendants of the goddess of magic, Hecate. But since not all of you or direct children of Hecate, monsters cannot detect your scent. And, technically, they are mortal. Which makes it harder for monsters to detect them. But for you…you're an exception. You are a result of two very different world converging. I'm thinking…that your aunt masked your whole scent. And you might've noticed—well, I noticed, that from all the owl letters your aunt sent me—you weren't this energetic as before. And Natalya noted that you had a hard time reading 'Camp Half-Blood', which just shows you being dyslexic. And the behavior? You're like most demigods: You have ADHD because you are made for battling wars, and the like, and dyslexia because your brain is hardwired for Ancient Greek. You've only noticed this now because the whole time, your aunt has been hiding this from you and she's been using magic on you to "press on" and control that certain part of you. The less you know, the less you acknowledge these things, the less monsters detect your scent." Chiron took in a deep breath.

I'm too stunned to speak. I've processed the whole explanation, but it's just so hard to believe…

Annabeth waved her hand in front of me. "Allison? Hello? Anyone there?" I snapped back to focus. "Y-Yeah…I got it…" I stood up to leave, but I swayed. Annabeth caught me just before I fell.

Chiron put a hand on my forehead. " _Di immortales…_ Annabeth would you please take her to the infirmary? Please, before she passes out." Annabeth nodded grimly.

I have no recollection of passing out or anything, but I do remember that as soon as Annabeth and I stepped out of the Big House, she called the attention of the other campers, and together and carried me to the infirmary.

And well, I'll just say I passed out after that.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE: I Dream The Strangest Dream

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

I woke up feeling a whole lot better. I looked around me, and I noticed that there was no one in here. I eased myself in a sitting position, and crossed my legs under the blanket. Looking around, I noticed a small plate with a…is that a brownie? I'm not sure if it was…but…Then next to it was a half-full jar of liquid. I can't remember waking up and drinking any of this liquid…but maybe someone injected them to me? Heck, I can't remember anything…

I vaguely heard the sound of a door opening the closing, and I was quite surprised when a male came in. A racked my brain. I've seen him somewhere, I swear—hey, that rhymed!

"Morning," he told me as he sat down on the chair next to me. Then he smiled.

I could've sworn a light bulb lit up above my head. "You're that guy!" I exclaimed. He seemed shocked when I suddenly shouted, and he frowned. "Uhm, what're you— " But I interrupted him again.

"You're that guy! The archer!" His eyes seemed to light up, and he smiled again. "Ah yes. Will Solace, son of Apollo at your service," Then he bowed, well, if you can bow while sitting, that's what he did. I grinned. "Allison Vergara, undetermined, well, you patient," I replied. He laughed. I'll tell you, he _was_ kinda cute—

Wait, since when did I have an American accent? I held my throat, and suddenly I forgot Will was even there. My mind began making rational excuses and all when I felt Will's hands on my shoulders and he was shaking me. He began calling my name so loud I finally snapped back to my senses. "Hey! Allison! What happened? Are you alright?" He asked. I stared at his blue eyes. I looked away, "Yeah, yeah…I'm fine…" Will looked like he wanted to protest, but decided against it. "You should rest more…One more bite…Here…" Will handed me that lone piece of brownie-something. "Don't eat it all." Will warned me. "Just a little bite of ambrosia, food of the gods. Any more than a few bites more than necessary would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead, like a mortal." I looked at him a bit coldly. "Thanks a lot…" He raised his hands in surrender. "What? I'm just trying to save your life!" I shook my head at him and took a teensy-weensy bite out of the thing. It immediately melted into my mouth, and for a moment I closed my eyes. I felt myself feeling a lot better, and my shoulders and almost every muscle in my body relaxed.

"It is said that it tasted different for every person. It tasted like the home-baked chocolate chip cookies mom used to bake…" Will got a wistful look on his eyes and he sighed. I waved my hand in front of him. "Hey, Will? You still there?"

He snapped back to focus. "Oh! Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry 'bout that," he scratched his nape sheepishly. "So, what does it taste for you?" I pursed my lips. "Well…It tastes like the brownies I vaguely remember my mom baking…I was too young when she and my dad died, so I have no recollection of them…So sad. But anyway!" I exclaimed, determined to remove the bad memories. Will nearly jumped, but gathered his wits back almost immediately. "What's that then?" I pointed to the half-full glass containing honey-like liquid. "That, is the drink of the gods, Nectar. It also has the same effects if a half-blood took more than the body needs. When a mortal drank it, same result." Will shrugged. "You had such a high temperature, I decided you needed nectar inside your system immediately. I injected it to you through the inside of your elbow. But still, you've been out for a day."

I did a double-take. "Can you repeat that?"

"I said you've been out for a day." Will said.

" _Di immortales…"_ I shocked myself. I don't know what was more shocking: saying that, or understanding it. "Are you serious? Was it really that bad?"

Will nodded. "Serious." He even raised his right hand. "Yes, like I said, you had a very high temperature. I had to watch over you most of the time. Annabeth was worried sick…"

I nodded, then I wished I didn't. My head pounded and I cried out, gripping my head. This is the worst headache I've had. I curled into a fetal position and kept screaming. Will was getting agitated and was panicking. He couldn't risk giving me any of the godly food. We were out of choices, we had to wait it out.

After about five minutes of agonizing pain, it finally lessened to a dull pain at the back of my head. Will was stroking my hair and was humming. I closed my eyes. The melody was so nice…and I fell asleep, and I dreamed I was back at Surrey…

Aunt Natalya was there, Harry was too. We were enjoying a nice, sunny afternoon when the shadows began dancing by the walls. Aunt Natalya and Harry's eyes began glowing red and green respectively. I backed up until I was up against the wall. The sky grew dark, and cloud began to rumble and lightning flashed across the sky.

"Give up, daughter of Poseidon," Aunt Natalya spoke—well, at least, it was her body, but not the spirit. Her voice was tripled. I tried covering my ears, but her voice droned on in my mind. That's when I realized that she was speaking telepathically. Her mouth wasn't even moving. "Kronos and his army will prevail, you are not the child of the Great Prophecy, yet you will be of great use to us."

"Join us, young demigod," Harry spoke. It was the same as Aunt Natalya's: It was his voice but it was tripled. Like three Harrys were forced inside him and tried speaking at once. I began screaming and I slowly fell to the ground, hands covering my ears but to no avail. "You powers will be fully unleashed and you will have anything that you want, for Kronos and his army will win the war against the Olympians! Olympus will fall, and all the gods will be cast down to Tartarus! Don't you want that, daughter of Poseidon?"

"Aren't you angry at you father? At Poseidon? He hasn't claimed you yet hasn't he? You will have your revenge! Just give yourself up to Kronos…You will have all this, and more!"

And then monsters of all sorts swarmed me, cornering me from all sides.

I woke up in cold sweat. It was about…six? I don't know. My cheeks felt wet, and when I touched them, it was wet. I've been crying in my sleep? I shivered. That was one heck of a scary nightmare…

Then Will showed up.

When he saw me, he rushed toward me and sat at the edge of the bed. "Hey, are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?" He asked me so much questions, one after the other. My head felt like it was about to explode. I stared at my hands for a while, then I realized that I was wearing the same shirt as Will. Well, as all the other campers. I blushed. "W-Will?" I completely forgot about the dream and another train of thoughts went its way inside my head.

"Yeah?" He replied as he put a wet piece of cloth across my forehead.

"Wh-Who changed my clothing…?" I felt my cheeks burning. I saw that he was too.

"O-One of my siblings." He replied a bit too quickly, and I sighed in relief. An awkward silence passed by us, and soon, it was time for dinner.

He looked at his watch. "Would you look at the time! It's 7:25 already. We should probably head toward the mess hall pavilion. You must be hungry." Will told me as he stood up and removed the cloth from my forehead. "Can you sit up?" He asked me. I nodded, and he helped sit up then stand. My knees bucked and I had to lean on Will for support. "Sorry…You might be late because of me…" I said, but Will waved it off. "I'm on duty. They'll pardon us. I'm sure of it." We made it out of the infirmary and I saw demigods and naiads (did I say that right?), dryads and nymphs (?) marching up the hill to the pavilion. I saw girls come out of the woods and trees, and when I say trees, I mean _literally,_ they come from the trees.

We made slow progress, until finally, we reached the pavilion. We were late for about five minutes. At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I thought that if I were to join, I'd fall of my seat.

"Ah! Here comes the new camper!" A man stood and raised a glass to us. He was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of cherubs...yeah, a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

"That's Mr. D," Will murmured to me. "He's the camp director. Be polite. He's uhm, he the wine god, you know, Dionysus."

"Oh, like, Cabin Twelve?"

"Exactly."

"Hey, William Soles, why are you late? You're lucky I'm in a good mood, I've decided to pardon you for this small blunder, but," He squinted at me. "Who is this young lady? What's your name girl?"

"Allison Taylor Vergara, sir." I was intimidated, I'll admit it, but was this really a _god?_

"Regular or undetermined?"

"Undetermined, sir. I was just attending to her a while ago. She passed out yesterday. We're sorry we're late, sir." Will spoke for me. Behind us, I heard a whole table groan. Probably Hermes's Cabin.

Dionysus sighed. "Go on then. Enjoy your dinner. The rest of you, go on with whatever you were doing!" Mr. D boomed, and he sat back down, and resumed talking with Chiron.

"Hey," Will, told me as we made our way toward our respective tables. "Little piece of advice: Before you eat anything, take a piece of your food and scrape it towards the fire. Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell." Will tenderly let me go, and went to the Apollo table. About twenty pairs of eyes stared at me.

Someone handed me a plate. "Hey, I'm Luke. Welcome to the Hermes Cabin." I looked up to see a camper, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. I looked at the rest of them digging in into their food. For the first time, I noticed that a lot them had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Luke looked like them, but he had one heck of a nasty scar on his right cheek, but he flashed me charming smile.

I shakily stood and walked toward the brazier and scraped a bit of the brisket into the fire. _To whoever my dad is, but since I don't know you yet, to the gods it is then._ It smelled nothing like burning food. It a hundred good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.

I walked back to my table.

After dinner, we all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-a-long. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home. Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. It was the first time I'd seen the Hermes Cabin, and it was as noisy as London.

Luke told me some essential things for demigods who were gonna stay at the Hermes Cabin for a while…or for…well, he didn't mention the other thing, but you probably know it already. He also mentioned he was the head counsellor of Cabin Eleven, which was like, he was the leader or something. He finally said goodnight and turned out the lights. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag. Thankfully, I didn't dream of anything tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: I Figure Out Who My Dad Is __

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

I was slowly getting my head wrapped around the whole thing the next few days that it felt almost normal, even though I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.

Everyday Annabeth taught me Ancient Greek, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense. It was weird, but, I'd gotten used to it already. Because of my dyslexia, Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. But, unlike most demigods, I could still read English better than them, since I grew up being able to read thanks to my _lovely_ Aunt…

After that, I'd go around camp, deciding which I was good at. Luke, the head counselor of the Hermes Cabin, tried to teach me sword fighting. Luke was about nineteen. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He also had a leather necklace with four different-colored clay beads, like Annabeth's. Turns out, I was good at sword-fighting, adequate, but I could tell that this was _not_ going to be my strength. I thanked Luke then went to different places.

I tried wrestling. I was pretty good, I even beat a few of the regulars. Only Tyler and Clarisse La Rue, a girl from the Ares Cabin—yes, she is my half-brother's half-sister. Weird, right?—were able to defeat me. "There's more where that came from, punk," she mumbled in my ear.

I was great at canoeing, but I had no idea why, so don't ask me.

I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I was a bit strong as the Ares kids (except for Clarisse. She's a strong as a log), and I was fine with a dagger, but I don't feel like using a sword when in battle. I could tinker a bit, but I'm not a good as the Hephaestus kids. Plants. I shudder. They don't like me at all.

The only thing that I was really good at was at archery. Chiron was beyond pleased. He thought maybe TJ was wrong about the child of Hephaestus thing, maybe I was a child of Apollo. Secretly, I didn't really like Apollo, dunno why though…

Even though I was only here a few days, I'd already grown accustomed to camp. I would eat dinner with Cabin Eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nope. Nothin'. Everytime I did scrape part of my meal into the fire though, I'd smell the salty tang of the sea…

Despite that, I tried to forget about my father for a while. Surely he'll claim me. I tried to stay positive but today well, I can get impatient, okay? So yeah, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while? Show that they care about you or something?

Thursday afternoon, Luke taught sword-fighting lesson. The whole Cabin gathered at a big circular area.

We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good. But, still, something felt wrong when I used a sword. If this wasn't compulsory, I'd never attend this class.

We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time. "Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." "Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said. The camper snorted.

Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. My energy was getting sapped by the second. "Keep your guard up, Allie," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" _Whap!_ "Lunge!" _Whap!_ "Now, back!" _Whap!_

Bythe time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat, and my arms were dotted with bruises. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same. Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward, but, still wrong.

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Allie doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo." I groaned. "Oh come on, Luke. Sword-fighting's not my thing!"

Someone in the crowd yelled, "No excuses, Allie!"

I whirled around and glared at the crowd. Some campers grimaced and wouldn't meet my gaze, some campers returned my glare. "If you're so brave, why don't you come on here and fight Luke, huh?"

No one stepped up. " _Vlacas!"_ I yelled.

They gathered around. Some were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke'll use me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Allie, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand. "Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Al?"

I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force. _Oh, shoot._

The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, what the heck? I tried the disarming maneuver.

My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust. _Clang._ Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers were silent.

I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry." For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.

"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Al, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

I didn't want to. The short burst of energy had completely left me. I don't even know where it came from. But Luke insisted. This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.

After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?" Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Allie could do with a balanced sword—"

"I'm not a sword user Luke! How many times do I have to tell you?" I say, exasperated. I threw the blade at his feet and it impaled itself on the brown, mushy soil, and I stormed away. I headed to archery, where I knew Solace and Chiron was, and it was the only place I was sure about my strength…

Chiron saw me before I saw them. Archery class was flooding with campers, even trying to spot a white horse body was hard. Trying to find Solace was even harder. If most of them were blond, and were all wearing the same t-shirt, would you be able to find him at first sight?

"Allison!" Chiron called me and I turned toward the direction of his voice. He trotted up to me. He had his hair tied up in a manly bun to keep it out of the way during archery. His quiver and bow was slung over his shoulder, stand-by for now.

I looked pretty unprepared for archery. All I was wearing was my Camp Half-Blood shirt and long shorts. I know, it's an oxymoron, but really. It was just above my knees. Plus, my hair was in tangles from sweat and water and for moving so much, and because I forgot to tie it in a ponytail. I know, pretty idiotic, right? "Hey, Chiron…" I put a hand on my hip and ran a hand through my very, _very,_ tangled hair. "Do you think you can help a camper out?" I asked. From the side I saw Will running over to us. "Allie!" he called. I raised my hand in greeting. "Woah," he says, stopping right beside Chiron. "You're a mess."

I roll my eyes. "Do you think anyone here has a ponytail? I forgot mine back at the Hermes Cabin, and most probably, it's gone now." I shrugged and turned to Chiron. "But anyway, is there an extra bow and quiver that you think I can use?" I looked around. "There're a lot of campers at archery class today…Will?"

Will suddenly disappeared from view. Chiron shrugged. "He's somewhere there, my dear. And as a matter of fact, yes. There are always extra bows. There is no need to worry." He assured me. I smiled. "Thanks Chiron," Then out of nowhere Will appeared again. "Ally, I managed to borrow a ponytail from my sister, Kayla." He told me, and handed me a ponytail. My smile got wider. "Aw, thanks, Will!" I tied my hair into a ponytail. It was very messy—but I don't really mind—but I immediately felt better. The wind brushed across my nape. "Thanks a lot, Will…and I don't mean it in the sarcastic way." I grinned. "Well then," Will told me as we began to walk. "Want to see who can shoot more bows into bull's-eye?" He challenged me.

"You're on Solace!"

Turned out we were tied.

I know right? It sucked, but since there was technically no punishment for the one who lost, we just trained more. Chiron said I was very good considering the fact that I was a newbie, and I beamed.

I realized that Capture the flag was tomorrow, and I practiced harder, firing more and more bows at dummy-monsters and other enemies. My shots rarely miss, and if it did, it wasn't going to impale itself that far away. I usually aim for the head, so if my bow missed the head, it would probably land on the shoulder, or the chest.

Being so engrossed in my archery, I didn't realize it was time for dinner until Will came up to me and told me it was time for dinner.

Will and I came back to our respective cabins and I must say, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. It was one heck of a riot. Twenty plus ADHD (probably) demigods, jumping and screaming all around the cabin, and suddenly, my life will seem quiet once I get claimed (hopefully). I sat down on my small space on the floor.

Luke came over. "Hey, kid." He sat down next to me. I crossed my arms and glared at him. "What do you want, Luke? Another try at the disarming maneuver?" I snap. Luke's expression was very solemn that almost made me to say sorry on the spot. "Listen, Al. I'm sorry. It's just that…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I haven't met a camper that's almost as good as me. And I've been here for a long time…" His hand went up to his leather necklace, which, like I had said, had four different colored clay beads. One bead stands for one year. "Yeah, yeah, fine." I waved my hand at him, "Say, Luke," He looked up. "Yeah?" "Can I cut off the sleeves of my shirt? It gets in the way when I'm shooting bows…" I asked. He grinned. "Sure! We have so many campers here that I'm sure no one'll notice. Plus, some demigods like that kind of style too, TJ and Clarisse for instance, so no worries." Luke said.

"Now," Luke said as he stood up, brushing his pants. "Get yourself ready for dinner." As soon as he said it a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before. I was getting used to this, even if I was always last at the line.

Why?

We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. No contest about that.

Demigods whooped and cheered and, all in all, made quite a mess. It was a riot again. I sighed, but stood up anyway. We marched up the hill and scraped parts of our meal into the fire. I was getting used to it. After dinner was finished and every trace of meal was wiped clean from our plates, Chiron bellowed: "Demigods!"

Murmurs ceased. All eyes were on Chiron. "As we all know, Capture the Flag is tomorrow after dinner—"

Noise came back. Shouts from the Ares Cabin, groans from the Aphrodite Cabin, murmurs from the Athena Cabin and all that. Chiron cleared his throat. "Heroes!" He raised his hands, and there was silence. "Last minute alliances will be only until tonight. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow. Good luck, and to the gods!" he raised his cup in a toast.

We all raised our cups. "To the gods!"

I attended morning classes, but after lunch, I didn't feel like it anymore.

I went to the volleyball court and played against a pair of Athena kids, with an Apollo kid as my teammate, so naturally, we lost to Athena. After a while, I went to archery, my favorite thing to do (and because it is the only thing I _really_ excel at. I trained for a while, and once I was drenched in sweat, I went to the Hermes Cabin and grabbed clean clothes. It was actually quiet, it was almost disturbing. There were no campers in sight, since all of them were at their classes, or training. I then went to the shower.

I went toward the cinder-block building. There were two doors inside, one pink, and one blue. I, of course, went inside the pink one, or, the girl's bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, what did you expect? After years of being used, and I don't think that this place gets cleaned regularly. But even if it had a _very bad_ odor, it was actually clean. Ironic, right? But don't ask me, I have no idea why.

I stepped inside one of the showers and took a nice, warm, bath. I shampooed my hair thoroughly. I've contemplated on the idea of cutting it into a pixie cut, so that it won't get in the way during archery, or during almost anything. Once I finished, I turned off the shower and dried myself. My hair kept dripping on my back, so I had to tie my hair in a very messy and loose bun. I got dressed—which consisted of my orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, shorts, and black high tops—and I went outside. Standing in front of the mirror, I thought of what to do next. It was too early for dinner, yet already late for more training. I was drying my hair and staring at my reflection, when I realized something. My hair stopped changing color. It turned light brown for some reason, yet I grinned. At least it didn't have to show my emotions. That's two things that I don't know how it happened: One, my British accent disappeared only to be replaced by an American one. Then this is the second.

I raised my sleeves to my shoulders, when I remembered something.

Stepping out of the building, I headed toward Cabin Eleven, dirty clothes and towel at hand. I stepped inside and put my clothes in the hamper. I rummaged through the drawers, desperate to find scissors. Finally, I found one, and grabbed my CHB shirts. I cut the sleeves away, and also I little bit of the back part. With a little tinkering, I turned my shirt into a loose, comfortable tank top. I looked around, making sure there was no one else there, and quickly changed from my CHB shirt to my CHB tank top. It felt a lot more comfortable, being able to move my arms freely. I pretended there was a bow on my hand and outstretched my arms. Perfect! I smile, and return the scissor to where I found it.

I decided to go to the stables. It's getting near towards dinner, but I wanted to see the horses. I've always had a thing for them. Once, when I was young, I rode a pony, but as I begun to grow up, I've wanted to ride a real horse ever since. So once I saw the stark white horse, I immediately found my horse counterpart. It was very pristine, even if black and brown spots danced across her body and hind legs. Her hooves looked like it accidentally stepped on 2-feet black paint.

"Hey there…" I took a cautious step toward it. Even if there was a door, there's no telling what this horse might do.

I was expecting that, it might have whinnied at least, but it talked.

Well, I can _hear_ it in my mind.

 _Hello there, young girl. Do you have an apple?_

I was too stunned to speak, but I managed to take another step toward it. "I'm sorry, but I didn't bring food…What's your name?" I grin sheepishly and I turn my pockets inside-out and raised my hands. "I'm Allison, but you can call me Al if you want." I say.

 _Well, that's a shame. They call me Dip, because my hooves look like they've been dipped in black paint. Nice to meet you Al._

Dip bowed… "A-are you male or female…?" I ask, embarrassedly.

 _I'm male, daughter of my lord, the sea god._

I raise an eyebrow. "Well then…It is okay if I brush your mane? I have nothing else to do…so…may I?" I ask as I pet his head, which he leans into. _Go ahead, Al._

I open the door and start brushing his mane. It was a beautiful shade of gray, almost going white. We converse, and soon, we run out of things to talk about, and his mane is more beautiful than ever. I say goodbye, and he does too, a bit sad, and reminds me to bring apples the next we meet. I laugh, and promise to bring apples in the future.

Now, I head for the strawberry fields. I see some of the Demeter kids tending to them. Even one of Mr. D's kids were helping the plants grow, just by walking near them. He saw me, and he waved, then walked by the strawberries again. His power is amazing. It's astonishing to see him walk among the plants and they literally, instantly grow. It's unfathomable a normal brain.

I smiled softly. Seven days. Still no sign from my dad. Seven days from July thirty-one. I sigh and stoop down. I gently hold one of the strawberries in a bunch and then I had this strange pull in my gut. It hurt a bit, but then disappeared. A sudden thought came to mind.

The monsters in my dream called me a _daughter of Poseidon_. Dip called me _daughter of my lord, the sea god._ Is it possible that… _Poseidon is my dad?_

I got so excited, that when I turned around to get to the Big House, I tripped on a vine. I laugh at my own clumsiness, but I get up and I start running to the Big House.

After seven days.

I finally have a shot at getting claimed.

Or, well, if not claimed, at least I know who my _probable_ dad is.

I ran steadily to the Big House from the strawberry fields, so when I burst through the doors of the Big House panting and sweaty, Chiron's face completely understandable.

He helped me get up. "What's going on? Were you running?"

I was too excited to care to answer him. I couldn't suppress my smile. "I think I know who my dad is," I said and Mr. D nearly sputters his drink. "I think I haven't heard you right, Anna, come again?" Mr. D asked as he poured himself some more wine, but even before the drink touches the base of the wine glass, it turned to water. Mr. D cursed under his breath.

"My name is Allison ("Whatever,"), and I said I think I know who my dad is." I said with finality. I felt pretty confident that Poseidon is my dad and I stood up just a little straighter.

Chiron's eyes swirled with curiosity. I can tell he's torn between not believing and believing me. "Oh? Who do you think it is then, my child?" Even Mr. D's staring at me from his table. I was liking Mr. D lesser by the nano-second.

I took a deep breath. "I think my dad's Poseidon,"

A second passed.

Two seconds passed.

Three seconds passed.

Mr. D burst out laughing. "Are you joking Miss Virginia—"

"It's Vergara…"

He shrugged as he wiped tears from his eyes. "Whatever," I roll my eyes. "Anyway, Miss Villanueva, how can you possibly think that? We haven't had a child of the Big Three ever since World War II. They took a serious oath. They swore on the River Styx. They can't possibly break it. It's the law." Thunder boomed above us. "Hasn't anyone told you that?" He chuckles as he drank more "wine".

"Let me explain, okay?" I tried to keep my cool. "I had this dream, 3? 4 days ago…"

And so I tell them my very eerie dream. Mr. D looks unmoved, Chiron, however, looked like he contemplated the idea. His deep brown eyes searched mine like he was trying to discern whether I was telling the truth or not. Then he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Well?" I ask expectantly. "W-wait, if you're not satisfied, I have another evidence!" I suddenly remember my conversation with Dip, and how he called me _daughter of the sea god._

Mr. D shrugged my petition. "We cannot afford to jump to conclusions, we simply have to wait for your father to claim—"

"Mr. D," Chiron interjected. "I think that she might be onto something…" He was speaking to Mr. D, but his eyes were on me. "You do know that demigod dreams aren't _normal_ dream, do you not?"

"Yes I do—"

"Well, then," Chiron tried to sound convincing and upbeat, but Mr. D will not budge like a clam stuck to the ocean floor. "It seems that Miss Vergara is having dreams about her father, but if you do not want to entertain the idea, it's alright. I will do the rest." Chiron said.

Mr. D looked annoyed. "Listen, I didn't _want_ to be camp director, okay?" I knew Mr. D was losing his cool, because he was gripping the bottle a _little bit too hard,_ and he was glaring at me as if he wanted me too disappeared right now—Oh wait, he probably does. "I don't care about you _Half-blood problems, okay?!_ Do what you want. I don't care. It's not _my fault_ I liked an off-limits wood nymph!"

Actually it is, but I don't think he'd like it when I told him that. And, once again, thunder boomed somewhere above us, nearer than the last.

Mr. D sniffed. "Well? Don't you have some business to attend to! Go on!" He waved us away, and Chiron and I found ourselves on the porch.

"Well," I say, as we start walking. "That went well," I kid.

It was about three in the afternoon and the sun glared on my now exposed arms. I was sweating immensely and I had to use the lower part of my tank top to wipe the sweat of my face.

"As you were saying, Allison," Chiron started. "You said you had another evidence. May I know what that is?"

"Oh yes," I replied. "He's a horse. His name is Dip. Dip can talk to me telepathically, and he called me _daughter of the sea god,_ so I put two-and-two together, and I arrived at the conclusion that maybe I am a child of Poseidon." I explained. He seemed to think it through, and he nodded. "Well, then," he says. "We have need of a satyr, and I know just the satyr." He told me. I shrug. "Anything to help you be convinced."

I met Gaurde, a satyr.

Chiron saw him before me, and he called in a very loud voice that I winced. "Gaurde!" He went toward us and he tilted his head just a little bit at me. "Hey, new camper?" He asked. "Yeah," He raised his hand for a high five. "Nice to meetya." I high-fived him back. He looked nice and all, and it took me by surprise when he suddenly took a tin can from his messenger bag and bit it. I took an involuntarily step back.

"Ey Cauwon," he greets Chiron while chewing. Fortunately, he swallows the tin in his mouth before saying anything else after. "How's stuff?" He smiled at us as he said this.

Chiron looked at me. "Well, we need to talk to a horse, and we need a satyr to translate what he says to us. Are you available?" Chiron asked.

Gaurde looked excited. "Finally something to do this afternoon!" He fist-pumps the air and then looks at me. "I've been lying on my lazy ass all afternoon munching on apples and tin cans. I've been bored all day!" He grins widely. He reminded me of Aunt Natalya, and I remember my hanging question that, I guess will have to wait.

Then I remember something. "Hey, did you say apples?" I ask Gaurde. He nods. "Yeah, why?"

"Uhm, where are the apples? I promised Dip I'd bring him some when we meet again," I say sheepishly. He smiles. "Look above you kiddo,"

I facepalm. Turns out this was an Apple Tree, and above me were hundreds of apples. "Great! Can I pluck a couple of 'em?" I ask Gaurde. He looks past me. "Ask Nar," He replies. I raise an eyebrow. "Nar? Who's that?"

"I am." A small, obviously feminine, squeaky voice said behind me. I turn around slowly and see a tree nymph leaning against her life source. She was smaller than me, and I'm five feet flat. Her skin color was green and she was wearing a flowy, green dress. I was expecting that, she has a scowl and that she would shoo me away and all, but she was smiling softly at me, and I can't help but smile at her too.

"Hello," A small smile crept on my face, and I waved. "C-can I pluck a couple of apples from your tree? A-A horse requested me to bring him some…" I asked nervously. There's no telling how Nar was react, but, happily, she nods, "Sure!" and plucks two apples from her tree and hands them to me. "Thanks, Nar!" Gaurde tells her and pats her on the shoulder, and I think she doesn't know this, but I think her cheeks seem a little bit darker than the green color on her body.

The three of us start to walk away. "Thanks again for the apples, Nar!" I tell her and show the apples in my hands. She waves back at us and slowly her green figure melted into the brown bark of the tree.

I thought came to mind.

"Hey, Chiron? Can I ask you something?" I tell him as we walk toward the stables.

"Ask away, Ally, ask away," he replies.

"When I got here, my accent and my hair haven't changed. When I woke up at the infirmary, my accent was gone, replaced by an American one. When I took a shower a while ago, I realized that my hair no longer changed color according to my emotion. Now it just light brown. Not that I'm complaining, or anything, but isn't it weird?" I tell him.

Chiron stroked his beard and thought it over. "Hmm. I have no direct answer to your question, Allison, but could it be the Mist?"

The Mist was some magical force that prevents humans, or, mortals, or just plain no-godly-blood-people from seeing things for what or who they are. Their brains aren't hardwired for it. Their brains make something up so that they can understand it. That's why the gods above look down on us—well, them, but what difference does that even make? I'm still human _and_ mortal.

I shrugged. "I guess…I'll have to settle for that for now."

The rest of the trip was quiet.

It was comforting.

I heard him before I saw him.

I heard him neigh and I heard him speak in my mind.

 _I see you brought apples. Can I have some, please Allie?_

I chuckled. "Sure Dip!" and I skipped over to his stall.

I saw Chiron lean his head toward Gaurde and he whispered something in response. Dip leaned out of his stall and sniffed my pockets. I laughed. "Here ya go, Dip," I took one of the apples from my pocket and gave it to him. My hand is ticklish against his mouth. I chuckle and laugh.

 _You have another one, my lady. I'm sure of it._ And Dip neighs.

Gaurde gaped at me. "He called you my lady…" Then he looked at Chiron, "He called her my lady…"

Even Chiron looked astonished.

Dip began sniffing my other pocket. "Okay, okay, you got me. Here catch," I threw him the apple and he caught it in his mouth. As he munched on it, Chiron tapped my shoulder. I turned around to face him and he motioned for me to follow him for a few steps farther from the stables.

He cleared his throat. "It seems we have enough evidence to say that, you _are_ Poseidon's child, but!" Chiron says as he sees my excited face and ready-to-jump figure. "We must wait for him to claim you still, and you will still have to stay at Cabin Eleven."

I whoop. I dance. I yell. I clap.

I celebrate.

Gaurde celebrates with me and carried me off the ground. I let out a squeal of laughter. "Can I set Dip free?" I ask Gaurde. He shrugs. "I don't see why not!" And he laughs heartily. I squeal and open the door to Dip's stall.

 _My dear Allison, what's—_

I don't wait for him to finish, but I still ask for his permission. "Can you take me for a ride by the shore?"

 _Yes, but why—_

"Because I am happy!" I say and I don't wait for Gaurde to set Dip up. I just pulled myself up into Dip, and he galloped away toward the shore.

I think I know my dad.

I finally have a shot.

I am so happy.

When we reached the beach, I fell in love.

The sun was beginning to set, and a mixture of red, orange, yellow, pink, and violet was starting to mix in the sky, like a painter's palette. It was amazing. I jumped off of Dip and removed my shoes. I felt the sand under my feet and the wind in my hair. I yelled and threw my arms out to my side. I closed my eyes in pure bliss.

I didn't feel it but when I opened my eyes, I saw it.

I was riding of tornado of water.

It wasn't that tall, about ten feet in the air, give or take a few, but still.

 _I was controlling the water._

And then Chiron and Gaurde trotted into view, and they saw my water tornado. Then suddenly, just like that, it was gone and I plopped into the beach.

And here's the best part.

 _I was dry._

My clothes, my hair, my face, my skin, everything! I wasn't wet at all! It's amazing…

I ran up to them. "Tell me you saw that. Come on, tell you saw that—Why are you two bowing?!" I exclaim. From my peripheral vision, I could see Dip inclining his head down too, and it doesn't take a genius to tell that he was bowing too. "Why are all of you kneeling?!" They wouldn't answer. They just kept their heads trained to the ground.

After a while, Chiron— _finally—_ spoke, "It is determined,"

I looked up, and there it was, in a hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Allison Taylor Vergara, Daughter of the Sea God."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: I Play Capture The Flag

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Allison Taylor Vergara, Daughter of the Sea God."

I laugh. I whoop. I dance.

Poseidon is my father. _Finally._

I grin at them. Gaurde looks at me excitedly, like I was someone who was going to be famous and always liked and all. Before I could open my mouth to say anything, however, a conch horn blew in the distance, and we knew it was time for dinner. I didn't realize I was hungry until I heard my stomach growl. I smile sheepishly. "Whoops. Hehe…" I scratch my nape involuntarily. "We, uh, better head to the mess hall pavilion. We don't want to get late now, huh?" I say, as I march toward the forest.

Then I feel myself getting lifted off the ground. "Wha—"

Chiron gave me a lift again. "At that rate, they'll be long finished even before we get there." He raises an eyebrow.

I motion to Dip, who is sniffing the ground for some reason. "I have Dip," I remind him. "You don't have to carry me." I tell him.

Chiron seemed to have forgotten Dip, then he remembered him again. "Oh, alright. But we have to return Dip to the stables. The forest is stocked. We don't want to have our resources lessen," He tells me and he sets me down to the ground. "Thanks." I say and I went to Dip. I brush his mane and tell him, "We have to go back now. Ya ready?" I ruffle his mane gently.

 _Yes, please. Do you have more apples?_

I laugh. "No, Dip. I don't have any more apples. Now, let's go back." I say, and I pull myself up to his back. "And would you please lose the formalities, Dip? You can just call me Al," I tell him as we gallop through the forest.

 _Alright then, Al._

Once we got back to the stables, Chiron picks me up once more and we gallop again, but this time, we head for the mess hall pavilion. We arrived just in the nick of time. Campers were piling into their respective tables. Some gave me hard stares, seeing Chiron was giving me a ride. I blush a bit and scrambled to get myself down to solid ground.

"Thanks for the ride, Chiron." I smile, but the smile quickly fades as I remember something _very_ important. "Wait, at which table will I sit? I mean, I'm supposed to be at Table Three—"

"You will sit with us first," Chiron says. "I'll announce it before we eat dinner and before we play capture the flag. After that announcement, you will sit at Table Three." He tells me.

Great. I'll eat my dinner in solitude.

Once everyone has settled, Chiron raised him arms and bellowed, "Demigods!" And all eyes turned to him. "It is determined," and gestures towards me, and all eyes shifted to me. "Poseidon," says Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Silence.

Then an uproar.

"That's silly talk!"

"She can't possibly be a child of the Big Three!" I heard Mr. D say. I roll my eyes and sigh.

"Imposter!"

"Silence!" Chiron yells. "A satyr, a horse, and I have seen it. Just before dinner. A trident was glowing green just above her head. If you dare defy a god or question their decision, prepare yourself for their wrath. She is claimed, believe it or not, and she will be participating on this night's capture the flag. Now," Chiron lowers his voice at little, but it is still enough that he is still heard by all. "She stayed at Cabin Eleven during her undetermined time, and Cabin Eleven made a temporary alliance with Cabin Six, Athena Cabin. Would you still keep Cabin Three's lone camper?" He finishes.

There was murmur between the campers at Cabin Six. I can see Annabeth yelling at her brothers and sisters. I hope that she was on my side. I don't want to play alone against about a hundred campers! Finally, after a while, Annabeth stands up. "We have decided that she will play with us at tonight's Capture the Flag." He announces.

Some of the campers cheer, some clap, and some of them glare at me. I head to Table Three and food pops up in front of me. Then, Then Chiron pounds his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody falls silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!" Everybody else raise their glasses. "To the gods!"

Then food pops up in front of me. A take a platter of grapes and PB and J sandwiches. I guess the food knew I wasn't really that hungry. I spoke to my glass and tea filled it up, complete with the sugar and creamer of course.

I get in line among the others and scrape a part of my meal to the fire, and finally I can say a _definite_ name.

"Poseidon," I whisper, and my food goes up in smoke. I walk back to my table, head held high, and dig in to my food. Once I bit into it, I realized that I really am hungry. I eat like a pig, but with manners of course, and finally, when my stomach can't eat anymore, my platter disappears, and I burp.

I laugh. I wasn't really that loud, but it was still a burp! "Excuse me," I whisper to myself and drink my tea. I figure slides on the seat next to me. It was Guarde. "Hey," I greet him. He smiles. "Hey,"

He sit in silence, and he speaks again, "So, ya ready for capture the flag?" I smile and nod. "Heck yeah. I'm actually pretty excited—" A conch horn blew in the distance and every campers stands up. Gaurde grins. "Well, this is it kiddo. Good luck!" He tells me and he goes away. I stand up too, not wanting to be alone…

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"So those are the flags…" Both flags were beautiful, even if Ares's flag were more violent.

Then, the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. I wasn't really scared of them, seeing as the only campers capable of maiming is I think, the Ares cabin, but I was nervous nonetheless.

"Heroes!" Chiron announces. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal, and dozen more kinds or weapons. I of course, took my one and only weapon, a bow and arrow. I took a leg quiver and counted how many a have in here. Twenty. I had twenty arrows. That should—hopefully—be enough. I took another weapon, which was a small dagger, and put it in my boot. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes, so of course, I can't tie my hair up in a ponytail.

Annabeth yells, "Blue team, forward!" We cheer and shake our weapons and follow her down the path to the south woods. The red team yells taunts at us as they head off toward the north. I manage to catch up with Annabeth. "Hey," I say. "What's the plan?" She turns to me and grinned. "I have a plan. Athena _always_ has a plan," Her grey eyes look like stormy clouds as they look into mine. "You'll be with the offensive side. With my very older brothers, Jake and Jace—they're twins. Always be alert, and never let go of your bow, got it? We'll try to take the flag unnoticed. Come on," she tells me and we run still up south.

We place the flag on top of a bunch of boulders, which is really 'prominently displayed'. With it shimmering grey in the dark, stick night, I think it's pretty showy. Annabeth waves over two of her brothers, and they look exactly like each other. No noticeable differences. They had Annabeth's honey-blonde hair and strikingly grey eyes—come to think of it, all Athena children did. "Jace, Jake, this is Allison Vergara. Allison, meet Jace and Jake Santiago. You get along now. You're gonna be one of our offensive units, and cooperation is essential here," she tells us. "Well, I'll be off now. Good luck!" and she heads off.

They shake both my hands. "Nice to meet you," they say at the same time. We've started walking up north, scouting everywhere for the flag. I hear shouts in the distance, and adrenaline pumps in my ears. "Pleasure," was all I manage to say. I really wanted to win tonight, and these two keep in babbling on an on, and it is getting on my nerves.

I hear a twig snap, and we all shut up. I hear a growl behind me, and we all slowly turn around.

It was a lion, but it was no ordinary lion. It was about ten times the original size of a normal lion. It pounces on Jace, and I shout just in time and he jumps out of the way.

"Try to circle it!" I bark. Jake goes left, and Jace goes right. I face the monster head on. "Both of you! Listen! I'll try to distract it, while you try attacking it from there!" I yell. They both nod, and yell, "Sure!" and the lion turns it's massive head at Jace. I can see he pales.

"Ey, you big idiotic brute!" I yell at it. It roars at me, and I fire my first arrow into it's right eye. It covers it and it sinks to the ground. I fire another arrow and it sinks into the other eye. It roars unto its hind legs, and I shout, "Get out of there! You might get trampled!" And the two of them rush to my side. "What's the plan?" Jake asks me. The gears on my head turn a million miles per hour. "I got it," I turn to Jace. "Who's the better swordsman?" I ask. "Jake," he answers.

So I turn to Jake. "Do you think you can kill it?" The lion was still trying to get the arrows away from its eyes. It kept thrashing around and around and it kept trying to see us. This was our chance at running away, but that was the easy way out. In real life, that may never happen.

"Yeah," He nods. "Good. Jace and I will distract it, meanwhile, you try to climb up that tree. We'll try to lure it to you and when you see the chance, jump onto its back and try to slice it's head off, got it?" I say. They nod. "Go!"

Jake scrambles up the tree and settles in a branch in a crouch position, ready to pounce. "Hey kitty! Wanna play with yarn?" Jace yells. The lion turns to us. It roars and start toward us. I run to the side and fire an arrow at it's flank as Jace hacks at the lion's right front paw. It clatters to the ground.

The lion roars, but slumps to the ground. I assumed it was glaring at Jace, but we got him right where we wanted him to be. Jace and I look up at the tree and we see that Jake was going to jump. With a yell, he jumps onto the lion's back, but the lion feels the change in weight, and goes up on its rears. "Jake, watch out!" The lion desperately tried to shake Jake off his back, but Jake clung onto the lion's fur pretty hard, like his life depended on it—no wait, it probably did.

"Oh my Gods," Jace mumbles next to me as he takes an opportunity to go under the lion and make a deep, wide cut on it's underbelly. I snap out of my trance, and fire three arrows at once, one hitting the open flesh, another hitting it upper-higher body, and the last one fixed itself on one of it's hind legs.

"Jake!" I call, but I didn't wait for an answer. "Got a good view up there?" I shout. When he doesn't respond immediately, I panic, making my way toward the lion itself, but then, just before I make my way under him, and right after Jace made his way toward me, it slumped forward, it's breathing shallow, and irregular. I looked up to see Jake grinning like my Aunt: Like a madman.

Jace laughed, as the lion turned to golden dust. The sudden soft breeze blew the remains away into the sky. My gaze followed the stuff before going to the twins getting hyped up and such, then both pairs of eye met mine at the same time.

"Allie! That was some serious strategy and planning! How do you do that?" Jace asks as he pats my shoulder. "Yeah. If it weren't for you, I don't know what would have become of us! Are you sure you're not a child of Athena?" Jake questions, an eyebrow raised remarkably high. It made me laugh a little.

"I am definitely sure that I am not one of your siblings. I am a child of Poseidon, god of the sea and all that." I state, and walk again, heading north. Blood was still pumping in my ears, and I can feel adrenaline pulsing through my veins. I'd never been this excited and nervous in my whole life!

"Wait," Jace starts. "What did you say your age was again?"

"Eleven," I reply simply.

"Eleven," They repeat. "You're as old as Annabeth, aren't you?"

"Yup."

We walked for a long time, and, fortunately, we didn't encounter any more monsters in sight.

But we did come across a bunch of surly looking Ares kids.

They were joking around and making fun of each other, and I actually heard them before I saw them. Before I had the chance to pull the Santiago twins to hiding, an red-headed girl about their age saw me and alerted her brother and sisters. "Hey! We got the jackpot guys! It's Poseidon's kid!" I take a step back, and, the two boys with me, take a step back too. "U-Uhh, got any plans?" Jake ask his brother, who was fumbling for his sword. "Run?" He asks me. I shake my head. "I'll face these bullies head-on and alone, if you want," I didn't really know for sure if I could take 'em, but I was pushing my luck here with the reverse psychology stuff.

The red-head grins maniacally at me. "No water here to protect you, huh?" She taunts me in a baby voice. I grit my teeth and clench my fists. "I don't need it," I growl.

They all laugh. Behind me, I can feel the twins drawing their swords. I do the math in my head. I have one dagger, and fourteen arrows, and they are about eight in number, and we're only three. If they are as good as they seem, the odds aren't really are in our favor. I silently pray to my dad to please help me.

"Circle 'em!" the red-read barks. I've noticed by now that she's probably the leader of this group. Within seconds, they had us surrounded, and we had each other back to back, our points making a triangle. We constantly shifted, so that we saw everything.

"Do you honestly think you can defeat us?" A brown-haired boy taunts. He looked about Luke's age, he was definitely going to be hard for me.

"Our mother is the goddess of battle strategy. We'll figure something out," Jace confidently snaps. I suppress a smile.

"And out father is the war god," retorts on of them with a nasty grin. I scoff.

"Yeah, we know. We also know that our mother is also _a war goddess,_ plus the battle strategy part." Jake replies, his face calm, yet his voice dripping with venom. I see a few of the Ares kids shift uncomfortably in their positions. Red-head becomes also red-faced. With fury that is. "You call yourselves children of the war gos?!" She roars. "Fine, have it your way, but don't come back to our cabin once this is all over. Charge!" She roars, and it was all just a blur.

I rolled forward to avoid an incoming swing and so that I can take my dagger from my boot. The dagger was easier to use under the circumstances. I see that Jace is attacking on of the older ones, and creeping up behind him was the brown-haired boy. I nock an arrow and target his poised hand.

Bull's-eye.

Thirteen arrows. He drops his weapon, and slumps to the ground, clutching his dominating hand. I hear a yell, and so I turn around. Jake is in a deadlock with a girl, who was really bigger than him, and I can see that the girl was putting all her weight on him, making Jake lean back. I nock another arrow, but target her foot this time.

Bull's-eye once again.

Twelve arrows. She shrieks and drops her weapon, holding her bleeding foot. Jake takes this opportunity to stab her with the butt of his blade, and she crumples to the ground, unconscious. Jake turned to me, and nods. I nod in return. Two down, six more to go.

And then, I feel myself suddenly in a headlock, and my bow falls to the ground, just out of my reach. Great.

It was that red-head.

"Had 'nough, squirt?" she hisses in my ear. I grit my teeth and try to separate her arm from my neck but she was a lot stronger than me. I've been here for like, what, six? Seven days? Plus, she's bigger. In everything in comparison to me. She's taller, buffer, meaner. I can't believe my brother is one of this ruffians.

I shout and slash at her arm, wide and deep. She shrieks and lets go of me. I dash forward in a crouch and grab my bow. In a second, I have an arrow nocked in my bow, aimed at her. Red-Head grabs her sword, but howls in pain. The slash is about three inches wide, but I don't know how deep it is. Also, the red, sticky blood keeps dripping non-stop. "I could've done worse, but the rules say, 'No maiming.'" I mock.

She yells and lunges for me, both arms outstretched, glinting sword forgotten. "I'll kill you!" She screams. I hold my ground until she is very near me and I sidestep calmly. She nearly collides with a tree. I take the opportunity to smack the butt of my dagger to the nape of her neck. I see her eyes roll up into her head and she slumps face first into the ground. Five more left.

I decided to help Jace, who was having trouble fending off two males. They were both about his age, and Jace had to constantly turn around. Being the weaker swordsman, he has more injuries than Jake had. Jake already took down the boy with the brown hair. He turned around to see that the boy was clutching his injured hand. Not wanting him to get in the way, he made him go unconscious for a while. Then right after that, he took another opponent, this time a girl. He's still fighting with her, because her, like me, uses a dagger, therefore moves swifter and faster than Jake.

Jace is facing two enemies, right. One of them sneaks behind him, hand poised to strike, but I shot his foot even before he could make any kind of movement. His companion seemed to panic, but his dives were becoming more aggressive, and Jace was once again having a hard time.

Eleven arrows. I run up to the howling guy, and smash the butt of my dagger into his nape, and his figure crumples to the floor. Four more. I turn my attention to the other guy. Our eyes meet, and his eyes seemed to realize that the tables our now switched, but he did not back down.

While he was too busy attacking Jace, I took it as cover. I keep running around his sides and kept making cuts on whichever skin was exposed. Finally, he kneels to the ground, bruised and tired. But, playing safe, Jace still makes him go to sleep for a while. Three more with eleven arrows left.

I suddenly feel tired. The adrenaline might've been used up already, but I don't want that. I rush to a girl about my age, but she looks like Annabeth. I mean, her looks looked like her's. Even if we seemed like the same age, like Annabeth, she seemed so much older.

Near me, I can hear the twins struggling on their fights too, but I can't focus on that now. I have to finish this girl. She was blonde, but her looks gave something like, _Don't mistake me for a stereotype, you idiot._ Yeah, I think that one's pretty accurate. Her eyes were blue, icy blue, which reflected her expression: Cold.

She sneered at me, and she lunges. I see a glint on both of her hands, and I realize that she's using twin daggers. I dodge to the side just in time and fire at her. I was supposed to aim for her shoulder, but I missed a little and instead, it grazed her cheek. She looked shocked, and she came at me, and this time, she came faster. She made a small cut on both of my cheeks, and before she could do anymore damage, I roll and escape her.

She growls and lunges for me again. I aim at her and steady my ground. I nock two arrows, and I aim for her hands. One…Two…Three.

Bull's-eye.

She drops her weapons, a look of pure shock shown in her face. I count my remaining arrows. Eight. I sigh. I hope Annabeth move faster…I running out of ammo—

Oh gods!

I see drop dripping from my right leg. Apparently, her dagger were near her, so she was able to take them again. The cut wasn't deep, but it was hella longgg. About four-inches, running down my shin. She grins smugly at me and I glare down at her. I graze her cheek deep enough for my revenge, and I see her grit her teeth, and then, Zzz to you!

Two more. I rest behind a three and count my cuts. Three. It wasn't anything bad, but it still hurt. I hear one opponent crumple to the ground. I turn around and to see was Jake's opponent. The last one, looking at Jake and Jace, let out a yell of frustration, but turned tail and fled.

"Ally! We did it!" Jace yells as he crouches down and hugs me. I smile. "It pretty unbelievable isn't it?" Then I hear some of them stirring. "Come on," Jake says. "We have to get out of here." And we bolt.

This time, we head down south again, towards our base. We could use some rest, and I see tons of cuts and bruises on Jace, nothing that bad, but there were ple-n-ty. Jake and I had a few, but we were beat. Facing two consecutive hard battles makes you want to lie down and never get up again.

We pass the creek again, but now, I have the strong urge to go to the water. Just a little dip. Maybe the water can help me? I stray from the twins and dip one of my hands into the water. I know I can control water, but isn't water the element of healing? I am a curious kid, and surprisingly, the water runs up my arms and down my torso. The water was so cool and refreshing I could take a bath right here, right now.

"Er, Allie?" Jace asks. "What the hell are you doing?" The ground seemed to shake. "I'm healing myself. I'm a Poseidon kid, remember?" Then I turn to them completely healed and invigorated. "Do you want to? I mean, be healed. I can control water…" I say to Jace, taking in his bruised and battered form. "Uh, alright, I guess." He replies and steps toward me. I turn my back to him and—I actually don't know how I'm gonna do this. The first time was kind of like an instinct, you know? Heck, I didn't even know that I was actually controlling it until I saw it!

I told the water to heal Jace, and I honestly didn't expect that to work. The water floated on the air, and was headed toward Jace. It creeps across his legs, his body, his arms, his face, taking all the blood away from him. Then I can see that his cuts close and his bruises gone.

Jace laughs. "I can't believe it…Jakey," he calls his brother. _Jakey?_ I had to cover my mouth to stifle my laugh. _Jakey_ glares at me and his twin. "Yes, Jacey?" Jake mock replied. Either Jace was too fascinated to notice, or too fascinated to care. "I think you should be healed too. C'mere," He tells his brother.

And so I heal Jake too. Before we start walking, though, a conch horn blew in the distance, and I wonder, where does it even come from?

The twins exchange a look. "Oh, I hope we won this time. Annabeth, oh please, tell me your plan worked. Tell me Athena's plan worked…" Jake mumbles. I giggle. He glares at me. "You don't understand," Jace says as we start walking toward the mess hall, at least, I think that's where we're going. "Ares has been winning the damned flag for, what, four? Five years? All the campers are getting' sick and tired of it! They're gonna boast and brag about it all day! All week!"

I cringe. "Well, I can't say I didn't expect it," I mumble.

Finally we reach the mess hall, where every camper is located. I'm pretty short, so I can barely look past everyone's shoulders, but when I looked to my left, I see Annabeth looking down, and she was looking at the ground. Her mouth was moving, and I think she's berating herself.

"Annabeth!" I stray from the twins, and make my way toward her. She looks up, and when she sees me, her gray eyes look like London weather. "We lost," She says bitterly. I grimace. Oh crud, my first CTF and we lost... "They anticipated the attack. I thought they were gonna go offensive, but when we came there, Clarisse was with your brother. With the two of them combined, we didn't stand a chance…" She looked like she was telling it to herself. Her voice was so low and quiet, and it seemed like she was making herself believe it more than she was telling me.

"Red team has won the game!" Chiron announces. I hadn't realized that he was saying all these stuff because I was too wrapped up and saddened about our loss…and too pissed at my brother to care. Then suddenly I remembered that it was _Annabeth,_ who had challenged my brother. Now I realize how embarrassing that is.

The Ares cabin and their allies make vulgar, unrefined, rude, rough, impolite and all sorts of noises, except for the Aphrodite cabin, who are too busy checking themselves in the mirror to care. The head counsellor of the Ares cabin steps forward and receives the golden laurels. He takes them from Chiron, smiling, and raises it up for all to see. Again, shout erupt from the Ares cabin and its teammates.

I hear Annabeth sigh, and I frown then I sigh too.

Soon after the celebration, everyone heads back to their respective cabins. Luke comes up to me and tells me that I'll be spending the night with them still. I'll be moving to my proper cabin tomorrow. I can see that even he is saddened by our loss.

I didn't dream anything that night. Maybe because I was really affected by losing the game? Oh, I do hope we'll win the next game…


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT: I Receive An Owl

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

I moved to my cabin this morning. At eight o'clock I felt someone shaking my shoulder. It was Luke. He helped me move to my cabin, which, we each had a bag. If you ask me, I didn't really need the help, but Luke says he'll stay to help me clean up. Cabin three hasn't been cleaned. _Ever._ So I can only think of all the dust. Aunt Natalya probably knows a cleaning spell or something, but I've barely understood my being a witch when my sorry excuse of a brother comes to my doorstep and I become a demigod overnight.

"Really though," I tell Luke as he puts my bag down next to one bed. There are three sets of bunk beds. I'll pick one later. "I can manage. Besides," I put my bag down next to it. "Don't you have a class to teach?" I ask. He shakes his head. "No. You should know that. I teach your class, and I don't 'till noon." He tells me.

After about an hour, we finish cleaning up. We go to the mess hall for breakfast, and everybody looks at me they're a bunch of deer caught in the middle of headlights. Everybody goes quiet. No one moves.

I feel myself blush, and I bow my head, and keep it like that 'till I reach my table. I eat my breakfast in silence. Well because I don't have anyone to talk to, and because no one would even acknowledge I was there. Well, except for Gaurde, who came up to me and instead of having a nice little chat with me, like I expected, told me I had to go to Mr. D. Right now.

"Why?" I ask as we walk toward the Big House. Well, he's trotting, but, I think you get the point.

But Gaurde didn't answer. He looked tense. And when he looked at me, he looked at me like I was already lying on my deathbed. "I-I'm sorry, but I'm not in the position to tell you why, just…let Mr. D handle it…"

That pretty much sums things up.

Gaurde and I walk up to the front porch of the Big House. Dionysus sits at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just as he had when we met…I can't remember anymore. It was long ago. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They're playing against invisible opponents—two sets of cards hovering in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D says without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

I grit my teeth and have to bite my tongue.

"Come closer," Mr. D says. "And don't expect me to let ya off the hook, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds. Thunder shook the windows of the house. I can't remember seeing any clouds a while ago. Maybe it was just random? Or is it really my father causing it?

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus says.

Chiron feigns interest in his pinochle cards. Gaurde cowers by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus says, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Dionysus says. "Girl wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

"Mr. D-" Chiron warns.

Mr. D glares at me. I don't glare at him, but I stare back. He sighs. "I know that Hecate!" He suddenly shouts. I nearly jump. Chiron plays on as if Mr. D didn't shout at all. Gaurde took something from his satchel—a tin can—and bites into it noisily. "Yes—of course…alright fine—I'll consider it. I have to think this through—Alright, ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU! Get out of my head now—I DON'T CARE! GET—I _get_ it already, Poseidon. _Yes,_ Hecate. Ye—Yes, _of course_. Now, OFF WITH YOU TWO!" Dionysus shouts. I flinch this time.

He stares at me. "Two gods have ganged up on me and vouched for you. I'm afraid—and utterly disappointed—that I'll have to let you live,"

I almost fist-pump and shout, but I hold myself just in time. I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding. Dionysus holds a chubby little finger right in front of my face. " _BUT!_ Any funny business— _Anything at all_ —I'll burn you to ashes, a'ight? We got a deal?" Dionysus asks.

I nod. "Yes, of course."

"Swear on the River Styx then. Just to make sure," He squints an eye at me. I roll my eyes and sigh. "I swear on the River Styx not to do any sort of funny business during my stay here at Camp Half-Blood," I say.

Dionysus looks relieved and he waves a hand at my direction. "Alright, alright, off you go then. Go back to your activities! Go on!"

I didn't have to be told twice. I scamper out of that place as fast as my legs could bring me.

Since—Well, technically _I_ was the head counsellor of Cabin Three, since—well, common sense, bud! I didn't have anyone with me there, so I didn't have someone monitoring me in my cabin. I didn't feel like attending my morning classes, so I head to the stables, then I stop in my tacks. I go back to the mess hall, avoiding all the stares and whispers behind my back, and take a couple of apples, and a pair of sugar cubes too. From some the books that I've read, horses like sugar cubes.

I hum as I walk, and as usual, I hear Dip in my head before I see him.

 _I can smell apples. Al, did you bring me some? Also…are those sugar cubes?_

I laugh. As I round the corner, I can hear Dip neighing and stomping his feet on the ground. "Alright, alright! Calm down, Dippy!" I say as I jog over to his stall.

 _Dippy? Why the heck wouldja call me Dippy?!_

"Because it's cute, and easier to say." I say with my chin up. "Now do you want the apple or not?"

 _Of course I want the apple!_

"Well then, here ya go," I hand him the apple. I giggle. His mouth is really rough, and it tickles my palm. I feed him the other one, and soon, he requested for the sugar cubes. "I knew you would like the sugar cubes," I say and I laugh.

After that, I head back to my cabin. The walls shine like abalone shell. It was lonely, but it really looked like the ocean, and I love it. There is a fountain. It sprouts from the mouth of a carved fish by the ceiling and trails down the waterfalls to the main little pond. It is very pretty. I walk toward it and realize, there's a bunch a golden Drachmas, which was _very ancient_ Greek money…I think. Anyway, it was perfect for sending Iris messages. Now that I realize it, I can see that there is enough Mist for a rainbow to occur. Iris is the rainbow goddess, so yeah, we call it Iris messages.

I settle for the bottom bunk on the right. I just feel like it and because the fountain's nearer to me.

I'm lying on my bed humming a song when someone knocked on my door. I sit up straight and before I could open my mouth to say something, the door opens, and I see that it's Gaurde.

"Gaurde," I say. "'Sup—"

"You have to see this. Campers are requesting you."

Oh.

I'm being requested again.

Oh this is just _fantastic_ …

I didn't expect this.

An owl is lying on the ground. It was incredibly injured. Its right wing is under itself in an awkward manner. I think it's broken. Its head and part of its bodice is colored white, while its claws and the lower part is colored brown. In the middle, there was spots of white mixed in with the brown, creating the effect of snow. Its beady eyes were colored amethyst…

Aunt Natalya's.

Recognition sparks in my head.

"Snowy! That's my owl!" I yell as I push past the crowd. ("Hey!" "Watch it, squirt!" "Look where you're goin' kid!") I see an Apollo kid trying to untie the letter tied to its leg. I know only one—maybe two, but Harry has Snowy—person who could've sent me the letter.

I kneel next to the Apollo kid. He frowns at me. "What do you mean he's yours? Owls aren't domestic animals. They're wild, nocturnal animals! They're meant to be free—"

I scowl. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but I think you shouldn't be doing that. Owls are pretty loyal and they don't trust strangers easily, besides they—" I cut myself short. I can't tell everyone that I'm not just an ordinary half-blood. Aunt Natalya told me that owls only deliver the packages and letters to who they are supposed to deliver it. Snowy is acting hostile to the Apollo kid because he's not supposed to tamper, much less touch it.

"Besides they…?" The Apollo kid prompted. I look at him. "What?"

"You said blah, blah, blah and that the owls…what?"

I billion thoughts ran through my mind. I could tell him. No. Make something up? No. Umm…

"Well, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me," I tell him, but my eyes are looking at Snowy. She stares back. Finally recognition sparks in her eyes and she lets out a squawk. Unfortunately, I can't understand owl language I could send for Gaurde, but, eh. Not worth it, but if they do ask questions, I'll send for him—Wait no, probably not a good idea. Campers have already seen me and Gaurde walking together and talking, and they might assume we could be good friends and if Gaurde translates for me, they might think he's biased.

Just then, Annabeth steps forward. "What's going on?" Then she sees me. Come to think of it, ever since our short conversation after the game, she hasn't talked to me. Much less look me in the eye. Maybe its that extremely old rivalry between Athena and Poseidon? Or maybe it's the fact that owls are her mother's animal and I'm taking it under my wing—wait…I didn't mean that. Hahaha~

The Apollo kid looks at me then at Annabeth. "The kid says that the owls her's but I won't give it back to her," he says. Annabeth looks at me questioningly. I scoff. "Fine. Take her to the infirmary or whatever if you want. But I _need_ to see that letter," I state firmly. I inch my way toward her and gently take her leg.

Campers begin to disperse, returning back to their activities. Some stay, out of curiosity, while some stay because I think they want to see who's gonna win this. I think I will. You may think I'm biased, but it's true. Snowy belongs to me. I'm her owner.

I am having some trouble untying the rope. It's really attached tight. Maybe because she flew from Surrey to New York? Eh, could be. Finally, after quite a struggle, I finally manage to take to letter from her leg. I keep myself from smiling smugly at the Apollo kid's face, who is really dumbstruck.

Snowy forces herself to fly and goes to my shoulder, after flying quite awkwardly. She nips at my ear affectionately and I laugh. I pet her head and check her right wing. It's actually a miracle she even managed to flutter to my shoulder at all. Annabeth raises her eyebrows at me. "I don't believe it…" she mumbles, but it's loud enough to hear.

I turn to the Apollo kid. "How did she even get here? Why is she in this state?" By now, all campers surrounding us three left, bored and busy.

He looks at the sky. "The camp is protected by some kind of barrier, so that it can't rain and nothing gets in without permission from someone from inside camp," he starts. "Your owl—Snowy, is it?—was too persistent in getting in. She kept nose-diving the barrier, but it kept repelling her backward. Then, after many tries, the barrier gave way and she lost her balance. She landed on her right wing, and under her weight, I think it could be broken, but I doubt it's anything serious."

I look at my owl. She is moving my hair with her beak. It sends a calming effect on me and I pat her head. "Thanks, Snow. I really appreciate you sending me my letter, even if it cost you your energy and your wing," I tell her. "Now, go get that fixed. I'll come by later, okay?" Snowy pecked at my ear affectionately again and I gently take her from my shoulders and hand her to the Apollo kid. "Take care of her, a'ight? She's really dependable in times like these. Now you," I look at my owl. She has her head under her good wing, but one of her eyes is peeking out. "You be good now," and they go on off.

Annabeth moves toward me. "What the hell was that? How?" She asks me. I glare at her—well, not _glare-glare_ , just enough to let her now that she pisses me off. "What is? My owl? Well, it's an owl isn't it?" I say.

She just stares at me. "But, the rivalry between Athena and Poseidon. How could you have possibly tamed her? Owls are loyal, that one is true, but they're loyal to _Athena_. How could a child of Poseidon have possibly—"

I cut her off, pissed to the tenth power. "Listen, Annabeth. I have no idea alright," I growl. I am beginning to get really annoyed at the way she is acting toward me. Like my whole being was a sin—well, maybe it was, but still. "So don't go asking questions I don't have the answer to, okay? I'm getting kinda fed up…" I tell her, and I head off to the cabins.

I lock the door. I didn't want anyone to disturb me while I'm reading. Besides, I think I'll take the day off today. I'm getting tired of Annabeth.

I take a look at the letter. It says on the front:

 _Allison Vergara,  
Long Island, New York  
Camp Half-Blood, Cabin three_

It was written by Aunt Natalya. I realized her long cursive writing. Small and pretty. It almost looked like calligraphy, but not quite. I tear open the letter, and I did not expect it to be this long.

It took me a while to read the letter. Turns out it was both from Harry and Aunt Natalya. They missed me already and was asking how I was doing. I'm planning on replying as soon as Snowy is ready to take flight again. I'm not sure if I could send an Iris message to Aunt Natalya and Harry, but I'll try later.

Soon, it was lunchtime, and we all marched to the Mess Hall. It's my first time marching up the hill alone, so I stayed behind, so that I came in last, away from scrutinizing eyes, and back-stabbing whispers. When I get there, some campers look at me with disgust, but most don't care about me now, which is a relief.

After eating lunch—I had simple yet always satisfying, Carbonara—I decided to go visit Snowy. As I walk toward the infirmary, I suddenly remembered how Aunt Natalya can't seem to get inside when she went here with Tyler and me.

 _Aunt Natalya smiled sadly at me. "I have to go, Allie. I can't enter anyway, besides," she kissed my forehead. "You belong here too." And with that she disapparated._

Soon, I reached the place. Some campers were lying there, the Apollo kids tending to all their needs. I finally spot Snowy in the corner, and guess who's taking care of my _lovely_ owl:

William Soles—nah, jus' kiddin'. But it really was Will Solace though. He grins at me when he sees me, and waves me over. I think to myself, he could've not done that, since Snowy is obviously my purpose here. "Hey Will," I say once I get there.

"Hey, Allie," he replies as he gingerly wraps a cloth around my owl's body and wing. Kind of like a cast, when your arm is injured, like that. Snowy squawks, and tries to flap her wings. Well, at least that's what I think she is trying to do. Her good wing flaps helplessly, and she squawks even louder, and she almost falls from the piece of wood she's perched on. Will and I grab her just in time. "Easy, girl," Will tells her softly.

I pat Snowy's head. "I hope she gets well soon. She damaged her wing _pretty_ bad," I smile lopsidedly. "Kind of like when I had a sprain on my left ankle when I was seven years old. Fell down the stairs."

He laughs. "Well then, I'll give you a warning. You're gonna get more than just a sprained ankle."

I shrug. "I know I'll get used to it,"

Soon, Snowy falls asleep, so Will had to put her in a cage. Don't worry, it was big and comfortable enough for her.

"So," Will faces me, and brushes his hands against his pant legs. "You're a Poseidon kid, huh?"

I tense, so I clear my throat, "Yeah."

Silence.

I clear my throat again, "I…uh, I better get going. I still have to, uh, I have to clean my cabin, and all. Take care of my owl, a'ight?"

"Sure, yeah."

I didn't really want to attend my morning classes and stuff. It's my first day as an official Poseidon kid, and, judging by the looks of all those campers during breakfast, I don't think they're fond of me.

So I head to the beach.

I don't know why, I just…Maybe it's because of the ocean?

Soon, I hear the sound of the water splashing against the shore. I break into a run.

Oh, it's beautiful. If only you can see it.

I could spend all day in here, just looking at the sky, and the simple beauty of it all.

I heard the conch horn, and I am now currently running.

I arrive just in time, and I settle down on my table. Fortunately, I arrive not too early, and not too late, just like a said. So campers didn't really notice me, but I don't mind.

I can't remember how long I've been here. Two weeks, maybe? Anyway, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I'm getting used to all the stuff and the like, the routines and all. But my favorite part is my talking horse. Haha, well, not really talking…but anyway, yeah. Life here is cool. I just hope the witch part of my life is the same too.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE: I Befriend Clarisse La Rue

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

After eating, I was about to go to my sword fighting class when a husky voice tapped my shoulder. "Hey, kid."

I turn around to see Clarisse—you know, the big girl the beat me at wrestling from the Ares cabin?—and my brother looking at me with…is that respect?

"Ally, meet my other half-sister, Clarisse La Rue. Clarisse, Allison," Tyler introduces.

"Nice to meet you," I hold out my hand for a handshake. She takes it, but I'm afraid I won't be able to write anything with my right hand now, or use it at all. She has hands like iron. "Eh, skip the damn formalities. Anyway, I heard you beat Rebecca Smith, huh?" She looks smug.

I raise an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, who?"

"'No water here to protect you, huh?'" Tyler mocks me. I almost lash out at him when I realize that dialogue.

"Oh, I call her 'Red-Head'. But at least now I have a proper name for her." I say. "Wait, are you going to beat me up? Listen, I don't want to—"

Clarisse laughs wholeheartedly. "Beat you up? I want to congratulate you! Oh, if you only knew. She is such a brat! I can't believe she's an Ares child! Urgh!" Clarisse tells me. Tyler nods. "Yeah, but I think you might wanna watch out for her. She's been constantly talking to herself and laughing maniacally. I think she's plotting revenge, so yeah, be careful." He tells me. I look at him suspiciously. "You hated me when we first mer. Why are you caring no—"

"HEY SMITH!" Clarisse yells in her booming voice. Across the field, Rebecca—no, Red-Head looks at her, her face sour. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, LA RUE?" She asks in the same voice. "I JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU THAT YOU JUST GOT SERVED BY AN ELEVEN-YEAR OLD KID! HA!" Clarisse claps me in the back. I nearly stumble and fall.

Red-Head—okay fine—Smith looks at me with pure contempt and anger, but stomps away. I see that brown-haired boy that taunted us, and goes after her, but not before giving me in icy glare, which I returned. "Say, who's that brown-haired kid?"

"Oh, that's Brian Mills. We call him 'Henchman' behind his back. Or Hench, for short." Tyler tells me.

"Oh? Why?"

"Because he does all Smith's dirty work. She afraid to get her hands dirty. She's an embarrassment to Ares, tell ya. He should've never sired her," Clarisse growls.

"Oh, but don't you think they'll come after me now? I mean, you just gave her more reason to plot revenge on me," I say. The two of them look at me, then blink.

"Oh yeah. Well, no problem," says Clarisse and she puts her arm around me easily—I am so short and she is so tall—"You'll be hanging with us now. Not to seem rude, but you don't have a group, don't ya?"

I nod. "Well, you're right at that one. They're too afraid of me because of my ' _water powers'_ ," I say the last two words with sarcasm, and move my hands in the air, like I'm creating some kind of voodoo. "Oh yeah, I never got the chance to say it. Congratulations on winning last Friday," Then I turn to Tyler. "Annabeth's beyond pissed. I don't think you should see her at the moment," I chuckle. He scoffs. "I can't let a sissy scare me! I'm a child of Ares!" He proclaims. We all laugh and leave the mess hall.

We separate ways and head to our respective classes, which, in my case, is sword-fighting. We were teamed up by pair, and we sparred until one of us gave out. Unfortunately for me, the girl that I was sparring with has bigger body built and more muscle. I immediately gave up after about ten or fifteen minutes.

After that we were taught some easy and handy blocks and defenses, unlike the first time I attended this class. We were all drenched with sweat after training. Fortunately, I tied my hair up in a ponytail this morning, and I wore my sleeveless CHB shirt, so it's not really that hot for me, but it was still hot nevertheless.

After taking a lengthy, cold shower, I went to the Strawberry fields to help the campers there, if they need it. I saw one of the Dionysus kids there again. I waved at him, and he waved back. I'm picking strawberries, and eating some too. There are so sweet. I ate a lot. Technically, I have nothing to do anymore. I'm just killing time.

On the way back, I meet Tyler and Clarisse on the way, "Hey, Al!" says Clarisse. I wave, "Hey. 'Sup?"

"Oh, nothing much. We're done for the rest of the day. But, it's a good thing we came across you. You never know when we might come in handy," she says. I nod, "Yeah,"

A thought pops into mind. "Say Tyler," I start. "Yeah?"

"When we first met, you told me that I was a daughter of Hephaestus, and that you had your sources. Can you tell me who or what the source is? And why the information is wrong?"

He looked away. "Clarisse, c-can you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, sure. Just give a yell, and I'll come runnin'. See ya," and she runs off.

I raise an eyebrow. "Tyler? What is it?" His head hung, and when he looked up, tears were in his eyes. I can see that he's holding them back. "H-hey. Come o—"

"It was mom,"

I stare at him. Tears are falling now, and he's not making any sign of wiping them away. "M-mom…? Wh-what do you mean, mom?"

I wish that he's joking. Mom died when I was born…I…I don't even know her. I-I only know how she looks like... "Mom's dead. I don't even know he—"

"Yeah, she is. Your…Your kind..they—"

"Don't talk like you knew my mother!" I'm screaming at him now. I can't keep my emotion in check now, and I can see that he is too. "And what do you mean my kind? Do you…Do you know what I am…?" I ask quietly.

He sniffs. "Yeah, I do. You're a witch and I…your kind took her away one day, while I was still living with her. It was just a week before my birthday. Witches and wizards in billowing robes and floating brooms took her left arm and rolled up her sleeve. Mom would never show me that arm. She always had it bandaged. And when they saw it, they all sneered. Suddenly mom whipped out a wand and blasted them away. She took my hand and suddenly we were in a different place. Kind of like Natalya did…" He snaps his fingers. "What was the called? Apper…Upper..Appa…"

"It's called Apparating. And don't talk about my aunt like that…" I say, glaring at him, but he just goes on.

"Mom looked me in the eye and said, 'We're no longer safe. They're hunting me down, and they want me dead. I want you to find a woman named Natalya Amethyst Fernandez. She has your half-sister. She's a witch too, and if I'm not mistaken, she's a daughter of Hephaestus—if I remember correctly—and you're a son of Ares. Her name is Allison Taylor Vergara. She's younger than you by a year. Take care of her.'

"'Wait, better yet, I'll take you to her, come on.' And with that, we were in another place. It was your aunt's house. They talked for a little while, and you were asleep then. 'I love you, Tyler. Goodbye," and she disappeared. I cried. I left immediately, despite Aunt Natalya's protests. Then I met a satyr. I can't remember how we managed to get here, but we did, and I've been here ever since…"

I stared at him. He…He saw mom. He spent days with mom. My knees give out, and I fall to the ground. "C-Can you tell me what she was like? What was mom like…?" I ask quietly. Tyler sighs, and moves to sit against a nearby tree, and I follow him. I hug my knees to my chest and he has his legs stretched and folded in front of him. His eyes are red and puffy, and I think he's stopped crying. I, on the other hand, can't keep my tears from falling.

"…She was amazing. She always wanted me to be…strong, independent, brave, kind, honest, self-less, smart, and tons of other stuff. Mom kept fussing over me all the time that, she kept forgetting about herself. Even though we were always moving, and we had a hard life, it was worth it. I just don't know why she thought Hephaestus is your dad. I mean, Poseidon claimed you."

I shrug. And when I speak, my voice cracks. "Beats me…"

"Hey Al," Tyler asks tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yeah, you can trust me," I sat gently.

"Come on," He says, standing up. He holds his hand out to me and I take it. "It's in our cabin. I need to show you my secret. Do I look okay? I mean, do I look like I cried?" I shake my head, "No, not really. But wipe your eyes just in case," and he does. I don't really care if anyone thinks I cried. I don't really have friends here anyway.

We start walking in silence, but the noise of the campers makes it noisy just the same. Nobody really looks at us funny, I mean, they don't even look at us. We get to the front of the Ares Cabin. Tyler opens it, and, luckily, only Clarisse was there.

"Oi, Tyler! Allie!" She greets us. "Hello, Clarisse. Anyway, isn't this, like, forbidden? I mean, going inside a cabin you're not supposed to be in?" I ask.

Clarisse waves her hand. "Pssh, naw. That only thing that I know that concerns the gods, are up there. On Olympus. You cannot sit on a gods or goddess' throne. Even they don't do it. You'll be burned smithereens."

I stare at her. "You've-you've been there?! I mean, up on Olympus?! H-How? Isn't that in…Greece, or something?"

She laughs. "Gods, no. Some of us year-rounders took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council. And no, it's not in Greece. At least, not anymore. Take the Long Island Railroad, and get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor. Which state are you from? Are you from around here? I mean, New York?"

I was about to open my mouth to say some lame excuse when Tyler suddenly shouts "Found it!" and so the both of us look at him. "Found what, Ty?" I ask.

Well, saved by the bell. Or should I say, shout.

If you look closely, I think Tyler blushing! He's not looking at either of us, and he hands me this…letter. I take it and…

Oh my gods.

 _Mr. T. Vergara  
Middle top bunk  
Camp-Half Blood  
Long Island  
New York_

"Oh my gods…Tyler! There are two!" I exclaim. There are two very identical parchments on my hands. I think he's missed his first year! But why would they send another….

Wait, there's a different letter on the second one. "Hey, Tyler. Can I read this letter…? If its private I—"

"Yeah, go ahead." He still won't look at me. Clarisse looks as if she doesn't really give a damn. Maybe she already knew? "It might help you understand what's goin' on…"

I open the letter which is folded thrice. It read;

 _Mr. Tyler Vergara,_

 _I understand your reasons for not wanting to attend Hogwarts. But if you're going to go on about not having the money, it's not an enough reason. I know what happened to Katerina, and I am very sorry, but,she only paid what had to be paid._

 _By now, she must've told you about your sister, Allison Vergara, and Katerina's sister, Natalya Fernandez. You could've come up to them and showed her your acceptance letter. You could've asked for help._

 _I'm only saying this because you mother was a suspect of serving under the Dark Lord, and proven guilty. She was a Death Eater, Tyler. But when she had you, she wanted to change. Her penance was real. She tried to reason with Voldemort and the other Death Eaters, but to no avail. She went to the Ministry of Magic for help, but they ignored her pleas, and put her to jail. Yes, your mother was in jail with her unborn child—you._

 _One night, a mysterious man unlocked her cell door, and let her escape. The man helped her into hiding, and they moved to America. You were born, and the man left. She doesn't remember what he looked like. She didn't even get the chance to know his name._

 _But then the Ministry managed to find her, and…you remember the rest._

 _Please reconsider your decision to come to Hogwarts. If I'm not mistaken your sister will start this year. Her Aunt Natalya's already sent an owl. Your sister's attending. I bet she already knows she's a witch._

 _We'll wait your letter even after July 31._

 _Yours sincerely,  
Albus Dumbledore,  
Headmaster_

I can't believe it.

We're both magic folk.

I fold the paper up and just, I don't know what came over me. I hug the guy. My head barely reaches his chest (so short…). "Oh please attend. We'll take care of all the financial stuff, just…" I look him in the eye. Or, at least, tried to. He won't look at me. "Hey. Hey, Tyler. Tyler, look at me." I say forcefully, and reluctantly he does. His eyes don't look like mine anymore. At least, what they looked like before. But, the current color. They're the same. Though the hair stayed. "Please attend. It won't even come in the way of camp. You can go to school then go to camp after, just…please?" I felt like an idiot. I mean, why would he do that? I'm nothing to him.

He facepalmed and sighed. Like, siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhhhhh, sigh. Get it? Good.

"I'll think about it." He decides.

"You better," I say. "I mean, just tell me as soon as possible, a'ight? We've only got until—Clarisse, when does camp end?" I ask the daughter of Ares, who was..I don't really know what she is doing. Bored, I guess.

"Morning of August seventeen," she answered.

"Right, you only have…almost a month to think about it. When you've made your decision, I'll want to be the first to know, okay?" I say, smiling, and for the first time after this, he smiled too. He hugs me and says, "Yeah, I'll think about it. This would probably what mom would've wanted,"

A feel tears running down my cheek again. "Oh, don't go mentioning mom around me!" I say playfully. "You know I didn't get to meet her!" I force a laugh, and Tyler smiles sadly. "You should probably go now…Clarisse?"

Clarisse stood up, stretching. "Yup. Let's go kiddo,"

She walks me to my cabin, which was like, a less than two minute walk. "Thanks, Clarisse," I say.

She waves her hand. "Oh, no problem, bud. But mind you," she got a stern look on her face. "I'm not always this kind. I rarely show this side to anyone." Then it was gone. "Take care now, lock your door."

Clarisse was about to turn when I grab her wrist. "What is it, Squirt?"

"Did you…Did you know about it…? I mean, Tyler's secret? You didn't look at all surprised when he told me that…" I ask her. She nods. "Oh yeah. We're like…real siblings you know. I mean, no offense to you—"

"None taken,"

"—But I don't exactly recall you and him being close, yeah? So, yeah, he told me. I was shocked, but, hey. It's just like the Greek stuff all over again, so its fine." She shrugs. "No biggie,"

"Oh okay. See you 'round, Clarisse…" I say to her retreating back. I sigh and open the door to my cabin. I lock the door and plop on the bottom-right bed. Then I remembered something important.

I rummage through my bag, throwing out most of its contents in the process. "Come on, come on…Where are you…" I mutter. I felt around the bottom of the bag, and, "YES!" I yell, and in my hand, my black, leather, magic box. You remember? The magic library and all. Just think of a book, it'll pop in your hand. I have nothing to do anymore, so…

Voila! It's in my hand! The book is in my hand—

 _ **KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**_

My eyebrows met. I wasn't expectin' anyone, who can it be?

"Uhm, come on in!" I say, hopefully loud enough for the person on the other side to here.

"Uh," the person starts on the other side. "I'd love to really. That's why I'm here. But, you see, your door needs a little bit of unlocking. Would you be so kind to do so?" I recognize that voice…Ah! Annabeth. What does she want from me…?

"Oh!" I say, scrambling from the bed. "Sorry, I forgot that I locked it," I quickly go to the door, and open it, and yup. The voice is definitely Annabeth.

"Hiya, Allie," she says. "Hey, Annabeth. 'Sup? Would you, uh, like to come in?" I ask awkwardly. I have no idea what's up, so I think I'm on the right side on this one.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." Is Annabeth's reply. Boy, her name sure is a mouthful! She sits on my bed and I follow her. "Soo…Do you have something you wanna talk about?" I'm not sure that's a pretty good conversation starter, but, hey. At least I tried.

"Uh, yeah. I'm sorry I asked you all those questions. I knew you didn't have the answers to them just as I do, but I can't help myself, ya know? It just happens," Annabeth explains. Oh…so this is what she wants to talk about, huh?

"Oh. That's alright! I just needed a little coolin' off that day, 's'all. Don't you go worrying about that, Annabe—Oh my gods, don't you have a nickname? Your name a mouthful!" I say, laughing. Annabeth does too but she shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but I have no known nicknames."

I squint my eye. "Then I'll have to think of something! Uhm, is Annie alright for you?" I ask. She nods. "Sounds good to me," She replies. I grin. "Great!" Then, "Wait, before you leave I have something you may want to see. I mean, you love reading right?" Annabeth nods enthusiastically. "Well, I love 'em too. On my birthday, my witch aunt gave me a magical gift." I say. Annabeth's strikingly gray eyes stare at me. "Well, go on then," she says.

I raise up the leather box. "You see this…this is a mini library. Go on. Think of a book and just reach in. Trust me." I say when she looks at me warily, but does so anyway. When she pulls out her hand, there it is, the book. She looks astounded. "H-How… _Di immortales!_ That is amazing!" She exclaims.

I grin. "When you're a witch, that's everyday magic, Annie. Amazing." I smile. "Can I…Can I stay here, for a moment? Can I read this book here? Besides, I like your company. Makes me feel relaxed," she says, and I get confused. I'm not doing anything! Maybe it's just...me.

"You can lay down on the bed if you'd like. I don't really care," I tell her. "No, I'm fine with sitting down," she tells me. I shrug. "Okay then!"

We spent about two hours just reading books. Enjoying each other's company. Annabeth even returned the book she was reading and took another one, while I was still reading the book that I took.

Annabeth again takes the leather box and puts her hand in. When she pulls back, there's no book this time. "Thanks for letting me stay, Al. And oh, for the books too. See you later!" She says, and she stands up, heading for the door. "No problem, Annabeth! Oh, and lock the door when you head out!" I say. She nods, and she walks outside, locking the door just like I said.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I thought of something.

"What date is it?" I wonder out loud. I know that it's the month of July but, training makes me forget the date.

I sigh and stand up. Guess I'll have to ask someone from outside then. I head out, and I right at the moment when I opened the door, Will's there. I nearly bump into him. "Will!" I exclaim. "What are you doing here?"

He smiles. "Oh, just wanted to check on you. We haven't talked for a while," he says. Then I remember the question again. "Hey, Will. What date is it?" I ask. He seems taken aback by my random question. "Uh…July 28, I think…Yeah, July 28. Why?"

"Oh, I just lost track of time," I say, laughing. He laughs with me. "So…Are you gonna do something?" He asks. I shake my head. "Nope. I'll probably head back inside now. Why?" I ask.

He runs a hand through his hair. "Oh, I just thought that you might want to see your owl…" He says casually.

"WHAT?!" I exclaim. "Snowy's fine? Oh my gods, come on!" I grab him by the wrist, and drag him toward the infirmary. "H-H-Hey! Wait a minute!" He shouts, but I pay him no mind. I'm too excited to see my owl, nothing can stop me now!

We may have bumped into a few campers, but hey, I miss my owl, okay?

Okay.

"SNOWY!" I yell as I rush to my owl. Some campers stare at me and some don't pay attention to me at all, but I don't care. My owl and I may not have known each other for a long time, but she's loyal to me. I know that know, and I want to stay loyal to her too.

Snowy squawks and flies to me even before I get to her. I nearly fall, but Will helps me regain my balance. She perches on my shoulder, and nips affectionately at my ear. She does that to Will too. I guess the weeks of having only him to have for company had taken its toll and her trust.

"Thanks for taking care of her, Will. I really appreciate it." I tell him as I pat my owl. He shrugs. "No problem. I'm an Apollo kid. It's what I do." He says, laughing. "Do you think she can fly now, in this state? I mean, from here to Surrey?" I ask. I really want to know if she could deliver letters now. I mean, Aunt Natalya and Harry could be waiting for a letter, and I haven't given them anything yet. I need to reply as soon as possible.

"Yeah, probably, but we should wait for about three more days. Just in case. We have to be careful. One wrong step, and she might fully break her wing, and never take flight anymore." He tells me. I nod. "Okay, thanks for letting me know."

We stay there for a while, just talking about Snowy, and some others, but after a while, I knew I had to go. "Listen, Will. Thanks for everything, really. Take care of my owl, a'ight? Just…keep on doing what you're doing." I say, as I put Snowy down. He smiles. "Yeah, sure. See ya 'round, Ally,"

I wave at him and leave the infirmary.

As I lay down on my bed, I think of what I have to right in my letter. I have a ton of things to tell them and say to them. A page wouldn't be enough.

I sit up straight. "I should start writing now. Start from the beginning!" I exclaim out loud. I had the habit of talking to myself when I'm excited, but I don't really care. No one is around, and no one really cares, so…yeah.

I rummage through my bag, flip the beds, and search through all of the drawers. Luckily, I find some of blank papers inside a drawer and find my pen inside my bag.

At first, I was at a loss for what to write. My mind went blank. Then I say, "From the beginning!" and now I am on my second page, and continuing.

I don't stop 'till 10:30. I wouldn't've stopped if not for my hand aching like crazy. I started at 8 o'clock, and oh gods, my hand…Damn….


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN: Rebecca Smith Picks A Fight With Me

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

I slept in this morning.

How do I know?

'Kay. I'll tell you.

I was woken up to the sound of knuckles rapping against the wood door immediately, I sat up straight, and when I do, I lose my balance and fall. Apparently, half of my body was already dangling from the side of the bed, so when I sat up straight, half of my butt was not on the bed, and bam. I fell.

So I scrambled up and tried to gather my bearings. And just sitting down with my legs touching the cold floor when I heard the knocking again, along with a call, "Ally? Allison? Are you there…?"

Annabeth?

"A-Annabeth? Yeah, I'm fine!" I said groggily. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "Yeah, okay! Can you open the door please? It's locked again." She said.

"Blimey…" I scrambled up to my feet and ran toward the door. I know I look like…crap right now, but Annabeth's at the door and I have to get it.

"Annabeth," I said breathlessly. "Allison, oh gods I was so worried!" Annabeth yelled and hugs me suddenly. I was soooo confused then that I accidentally pushed her back. "Annabeth!" I said. "What's going on? Why are you so worried?"

"It is 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Allison." said Annabeth.

And that is how I knew I overslept.

I can barely remember when I slept last night, but I can remember that I didn't go to sleep immediately. I think I read a book or two…so I probably slept late, and so now, I woke up late.

"I didn't see you at Ancient Greek. I thought you slept in—which apparently happened—so I let it pass. Then came lunch, and Luke said he didn't see you either. After that, Chiron asked me if I've seen you. He said that you'll never ever, miss archery class. And then, I went to find Tyler and Clarisse. Not my type of people, I mean, Tyler…beat us at CTF and Clarisse…oh, she's just mean. Anyway, Tyler told me you're all close, and told me about the Rebecca Smith thing, and yeah," she stops to take a breath. Also, she hasn't taken a breath, so she said that all in one breath. Yeppp…

"Hey, I'm here, I'm fine. Just…Let me uhm…freshen up and uhm…change my clothes…" I say sheepishly. My hair is all over the place. I think I have drool on the left side of my mouth…and I'm only wearing a very long t-shirt. One that reaches just above my knee, and cycling shorts beneath it.

Annabeth nods. "You, sure. I think there's still some food left at the Mess Hall. You should eat first, since you missed breakfast _and_ lunch,"

Then I nod. "Yeah, thanks for being worried, Annie,"

And with that, Annabeth waves and walks away. I close the door and lean against it. I exhale and run a hand through my hair. "Oh my gods, my hair feels like a broom…" I tell myself.

"Right then, time to get changed!"

Right, so I was minding _my own business_ , eating _my_ _own food_ at _my own table_ when the red-headed witch decided to spoil the rest of my afternoon for me. So the conversation went a little like this:

 _Red-Head:_ *came up to me all sassy and know-it-all-like* Listen, kid. It was one thing to beat me at Capture the Flag—

 _Me:_ *toos the donut out of my mouth* Ahem, I beat you _plus_ your brothers and sisters—

 _Red-Head:_ *planted hands firmly on my table* Yeah, well. I don't really give a damn. I am going to get my revenge—oh wait, my _brothers and sisters_ are—

 _Me:_ *calmly dropped the donut I was holding and planted hands firmly on the table too* Well, bring it on then! I don't _care!_ Bring it!

 _Red-Head:_ *sneered* Oh yeah I will…shorty… *turns her back to me and takes one foot forward*

I should've ignored her then and there, and I think this is the reason why I am at the infirmary now holding an ice pack to my eyebrow…but anyway, back to the story now…

I growled and grabbed her hair. She had her back turned to me, so she couldn't do anything but claw at my arm. Her nails dug into at them, but if I could pull a bunch of her hair…Oh that would be _fantastic!_

"Let go you freak!" Smith shrieked, but I didn't pay her any attention. "Nope. You wanna know what you're picking fights with? Fine!" I yelled at her, but she swings her arm backward—I've no idea how she did it—and managed to nick just below the edge my left eyebrow. Oh crud, that's gonna leave a mark…

"Oh no you didn't sister," I hissed. Without loosening my grip on her hair, I swung her around using her tremendously long mane. Longer than mine even, and that's saying something. She shrieked louder and her nails dug deeper into my arm, and using my free hand, I swing at her cheek.

I know you're going to tell me, "But you shouldn't have! You should've told Chiron, or Annabeth, or someone. You just had to take a swing, didn't you?"

Yes, of course I had to. But it'll hurt my pride to much if I went away without a fight. I know, call it idiocy and that I'm proud, but…oh come one, wouldn't you have done it too? Anyway, her shrieks began to attract attention, and now campers came running at us from all sides, but then Clarisse came in, and

 _ **BAM!**_

Landed a solid punch at her jaw. By now, Annabeth had taken me by the arms along with Tyler. "Clarisse can handle things on her own. She's had more fights than you," Tyler whispers at my ear, but I still struggle against them. "I know you want to punch her as much as I do, but you have to trust Clarisse. She's knows what she's doing."

I was reluctant to give up so easily, but it's not like I can do anything about it. Both of them were stronger than me, and smaller figure makes it harder to fight back.

"Campers!" Someone shouted, and everybody went quiet. Everyone except for Red-Head and Clarisse. It was Chiron. "Stop it! Both of you! _NOW!"_

I saw it in her eyes that Clarisse was reluctant to do so, but I saw that in Red-Head's eyes, I think that she was relieved that Chiron stepped up to break up the fight. Clarisse suffered no more than a busted lip and a bruised cheek. The Red-Head however…uhm…Well, let's just say that she might be staying at the infirmary longer than me and Clarisse.

"I know that picking fights is normal between children of the war god, so that I will not do any disciplinary measures…that wouldn't do anything," Chiron said. "but make grudges go even further. But please, send these campers to the infirmary." He tells Clarisse—who was held back by two of her brothers—and Red-Head—who seems smart enough not to go anywhere near Clarisse. "But as for you, Allison," All eyes turn to me. "Why would go and pick a fight? Especially with their lineage," Chiron's voice tells me that he wasn't mad. Just…disappointed. I don't answer, but I shrug. "I…don't really have an answer for that," I said, crossing my arms. Which was partly true. I can't go telling them I was provoked. That would make me look weak. I can't tell them that I started it either. That's just plain idiocy. More idiotic than the first one. So…I don't really have an answer.

Chiron looked at me with sad eyes, but averted his eyes away after a while. "Send these three to the infirmary." Chiron said, and galloped away. Someone tried to hold my shoulder but I shrugged it off "I know where I'm going. There's no need to escort me," I said in an icy whisper.

And that is how I ended up here. End of story.

"Come on…Lemme check your arms," Will tells me. Oh yeah, if Will was my owl's nurse, he is for me too. "That's what friends do." he said. "Do that later…My eyebrow…It won't stop bleeding," I say as he tried to pry my right arm from the ice pack. My left arm is fine. Cleaned up and bandaged, but my right one is holding the ice pack, so—

"Yeah, served you right for making that gash on my arm!" yells Smith from somewhere inside the infirmary. I was about to retort when, "Shut up, Smith! You're just pissed off at the fact that she beat you up!" Clarisse yells beside me.

Red-Head screeches but her screech turns to a scream of pain. Her sobs make me smile. I hate her sooooooo mucchhhhhh…Urgh! "Be quiet…You're gonna make yourself pump adrenaline now…" Will tells me. "And can I please check your arm now? It's still bleeding…" He tries to take ahold of it, but I evade his hand again. "Come on…It won't heal if you won't let me help you…"

I look him in the eye, but then I feel the throbbing pain of the scratch marks on my arm. "Fine…" I reluctantly say. Will grins, "Great!" he holds his hand over. I put the ice pack there, and he immediately checks my arm. He cleans it up—which made me cringe and maybe hiss in pain a little—and bandages it. I feel like a Chinese/Japanese martial arts/kung fu master with all these bandages.

"Now for your brow…" he whispers. It was quite big, so Will had to stitch it up. It wasn't painless but it wasn't exactly excruciating either. It was done in a matter of minutes. "Oh yeah, that's gonna leave a scar, Al. At least she didn't hit you exactly at your brow. If she did and we stitched it up, I don't think hair's gonna cover it," Will tells me, chuckling. I laugh. "Yeah, I don't mind the scar though. It's fine. I don't think it's really obvious…right?" I ask. Will shrugs one shoulder. "Eh, hate to burst your bubble, but it kinda is…" I raise my good eyebrow. "Really?" He nods, so I shrug. "Well then, there's nothing I can do about it,"

"You should get some rest," He tells me. "There isn't anything you can do at that state anyway." I nod. "Thanks, Will." He raises a hand over his shoulder and leaves me alone.

I tried to get some sleep, but I just can't. So now I'm just staring at the ceiling, and thinking about what I'm going to do later. I'm probably going to continue the letter, since I only have two days left…Well, not really, but I really want to send the letter as soon as possible, and if Will says Snowy can take flight in a couple more days, I must to finish it within that time span.

I am itching to leave, but Will says that I should rest for the rest of the afternoon. Gods, I already woke up late and technically, I haven't done anything productive this afternoon yet! What a way to waste your day, huh?

A couple of hours later, Will says I can go if I want. I bolt up from the bed and I don't even bother to thank him. I just stood up and bolted. (Which, now that I think of it, was rude) I head straight for the cabins. It's late now anyway, about 5:30 in the afternoon, so I can't really can't go anywhere.

I scurry into my cabin and find the unfinished letter. Beside it is the pen. I reread the letter and got to work.

Someone knocks on my door. When I came to open it, it was Annabeth.

"Annabeth," I say, surprised.

"It's time for dinner," she starts, grey eyes sparkling in the moonlight…Woah, okay. That just sounded weird. Forget what I said. "I saw you're not going out of your cabin. Aren't you gonna eat?" Her arms cross across her chest, and I lean against that doorframe. "Oh, no. Not hungry," I replied. Annabeth shrugs. "Alright then, suit yourself." She says and she turns to leave. I close the door behind her.

I change into a house shorts and shirt. I want to call it a night, but though it's too early and I'm not sleepy at all.

So I think about Hogwarts, and all the witches and wizards. It seems exciting. I wonder if it'll be anything like my old schools at all…Except maybe the subjects and uniforms are a bit different, I can give you that. I hope my American slang won't stick to me. If it does, I bet I'll be a laughing stock at school.

I wish my hair goes back to how it looked like before. I mean, yeah I like this, but, doesn't the ability to change your hair color at will sound alluring? At that, I ran a hand through my long mane and I am completely astounded that my hair change color! It's this lovely blue color now. It reminds me of the sea…

I think I _can_ change my color at will. Thank goodness it's not going to change according to my emotion though. What if I like someone, and he talked to me and then my hair changes to this pink color. And if he knew about my hair, oh my gods that would be so embarrassing!

I will my hair to be another color, just to check if it works and that it's not a coincidence. So, I take a compact mirror from my bag and look at my hair, and it did! Much to my amazement, it did! It looks like my hair is on fire now. Like…Imagine a flame. It's quite this bright orange at the bottom, right? Then orange around the middle, then the almost red color at the top. Yeah like that!

It looks cool and all, but I still like the blue one, so I change my hair back. I smile.

I mean, this is amazing! This is already cool enough as it is and what more if I learn more stuff! This things are incredible. I can't believe humans haven't noticed these things that are happening right under their noses.

My train of thoughts keep on getting longer. It became so long, and I began getting too deep into it, I can't remember falling asleep, but I had a dream. I knew I was in a dream because I was walking, and I tripped. Then I saw a bruise on my arm and there was blood. But when I touched it, I can't feel anything.

Anyway, I keep on walking, but I don't know where I am. Heck, I can't even recognize the place! But I keep walking, and I see this old couple on their lawn, laughing. I smile. Finally! I was just beginning to think I was the only person in my dreamscape.

"Hello!" I say to them once I was near hearing-range. The old man had his back to me, but the old woman saw me, but at the sight of me, her merry face turned into something like fright. She pointed at me from her husband's back. I frowned. Do I look scary? It must be the hair.

"I'm not going to do anyth—" I start, but the man whirls around and ushers his wife inside the house. "Stay back! I'm warning you! Don't you harm me or me family! Stay away!" He pulls something from his jacket and I got _really_ scared when I saw what it was.

He has a gun. And it's nuzzle is pointed at me.

I raise my hands in the air as surrender, but take a tentative step forward, but he puts the bullet in place, and that makes me take back my step. Then I remember that this is just a dream.

This is just I dream…I keep telling myself over and over, like a mantra while the old man babbles about me staying away from them and just leave. "Yeah, yeah. Okay…I'm leaving now…" I say in a gentle voice. He's stopped talking, but the damned gun is still pointed at me. "I'm taking a step backward—"

" _Papi!"_

 _ **BANG!**_

I heard the gunshot, but I don't feel anything painful, but my knees give out and I fall. I hear footstep running to me and my vision blurs. I want to see who's there, but my vision is too blurry…

"Papi?" It was a boy's voice. A child. It was the same voice the called to the man earlier. It must be his grandson. "Where is there a crimson flower blooming on her stomach? Flowers don't grow on people, Papi. They grow on the ground, don't they, Granny?" The boy asks the woman, who must be his grandmother.

Oh, there's blood on my shirt now, is there? And a stomach wound. Great.

"Go inside, Jacob. Go to your room and lock it. Is that clear?" Granny asks.

Jacob nods and disappears inside the house.

Once his was safely inside, Granny sighs and wipes my forehead. "Oh John…What should we do?" She's crying, I can hear her crying. My eyes gave out a while ago, and I can only depend on my other senses.

"We…We call the…what do your kind call it? The Ministry? Yeah. That. According to the..the…Weekly…Weekly Prophet? She's a Death Eater, and we know it. Look at her arm!" I can hear anger in his voice. I feel him grab my arm…I don't know which one anymore. I'm in the midst of dying, if you haven't noticed. "We saw it, Sarah. That…that Mark was on her arm just a while ago!" He says angrily.

"But it's gone now!" Sarah says back just as angrily. "It could have been paranoia, but you shot her John! She could've been innocent!"

"Yeah, as innocent as who's going on killing your kind!" John yells at her and storms inside the house. My cheeks are wet, but the tears aren't mine. The tears are Sarah's. "Don't you worry, dear…I won't…Ministry…but…ambulance…don't…care…" I can only hear snippets of her voice now, my hearing is becoming muffled.

I try to open my eyes and, fortunately, my eyesight is returned, though blurry, I can see enough. I can see in the reflection of Sarah's glasses that I am not myself. I mean the girl in the reflection is not me. It looks like me, but it's not exactly me…

Then my eyes close and I feel nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN: I Send An Owl

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

I didn't wake up the way they do in the movies. Like, when you dream something grave or awful or terrifying and you bolt straight up in bed. No, I woke up like I usually do. I can barely remember my dream, though. Swinging my legs to the edge of the bed, I take a long stretch. Once I feel woken up, I stand up.

I freshen up and change into a pair of shorts and my CHB shirt. With the sleeves one. I part my hair in the middle and start braiding. It looks like Anna's braids from frozen, but it's Elsa's braid. Do you get it? Okay, like, two French braids in one head. Also, my hair is still blue, and I love it.

After breakfast, I decided to go to the metal shop, where kids were forging their own swords. I was thinking of making a metal bow, and metal arrows. Hopefully, I could learn forging fast enough.

Okay, lemme get one thing straight.

It's not easy.

I mean, I know that it isn't but…

I'll start from the beginning.

I was greeted by this big, muscly guy who seemed intimidating at first, but when you see his face, especially his eyes, he won't look scary at all. "Hello!" He greeted me. "Charlie Beckendorf. But everybody calls me Beckendorf around here," He smiled, and I saw that he's not scary to me anymore. "And no need to tell me who you are, Allison, daughter of—"

I feel so rude for having to cut him off, but. Oh please, don't. "I'm sorry, but just, don't go into the whole Poseidon-spawn thing. Makes me feel like an outsider, you know?" I told him sheepishly. He just grins. "Right. Oh yeah, son of Hephaestus." He told me, then goes back to work.

I approached him. "Think you can teach me? I mean, forging? See, I want to make a weapon, and I can't do that if I don't know how to do it." I told him.

And so here I am, trying my best to forge. "Oh gods…It's so hot in here…How can you stand it?" I ask. "Oh just…Used to it by now. Also my dad being the god of fire and forges after all." He says.

"Yeah, the first time I walked in I felt no difference at all," Aesha, one of Beckendorf's half-sisters, says, patting my back. "Definitely the lineage." Nicolas says beside me. Beckendorf told me to practice on swords first. My first and second were a flop, so I'm working on my third, which doesn't look good…And if you haven't noticed, Nicolas is Beckendorf's half-brother. Their all related. I feel like a black sheep, but not in a bad way.

"Oh come on, Al!" Nicolas says, inspecting my work. "You've got to do better than that if you want to make your own weapon," He laughs at me. I laugh with him, so that makes me laugh at myself. "Speaking of weapon," Aesha starts. "What kind of weapon do you even want?" She asks while polishing her weapon, which is a dagger. "I'd like a bow…I like long range weapons thanks," I say. "Oh yeah. You're great at archery, you are." Beckendorf says, cooling his newly-made weapon. "Like an Apollo kid."

Then I chuckle, which makes all three of them look at me. "What's so funny?" asks Aesha. "My half-brother, Tyler Vergara…He…He told me my godly parent was going to be your dad." I tell them.

Nicolas chuckles. "Oh if you were, you'd suck at it," I laugh. "Oh stop it. I'm trying my best!" I slap his arm playfully. "Looks like I'll be spendin' a lot a time in 'ere. You'd see this face everyday for about a month." I grin.

All of them groan, but I can see that it's fake.

"Oh stop it."

Lunch came, then swordfighting. I didn't want to go back to the metal shop just yet, so I headed to arts and crafts room. I just wanted to see what they're doing in there and probably stay there for a while.

I don't think I haven't told you, but I don't really stick to my schedule anymore. Except for Ancient Greek, archery and swordfighting. Yeah, I kinda…drift from place to place.

Anyway, you I can't believe what's happening in these room right now.

Satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man. And I can see Gaurde too. I close the door behind me, and, probably Gaurde heard it, he looks at me. He grins and gallops toward me. "Hey, Allie! 'Sup?"

I smile. "Oh nothing much. I just wanted to see what was going on in here..." I peek over his shoulder. "annddd I can see that you're all busy…so I'm gonna leave now…" I turn toward the door, but Gaurde pus an arm over my shoulders and steers me around. "You can stay if you like," He asks, and I nod eagerly. "Like your hair by the way." He adds. Aesha also told me that a while ago. I trace my braids from the back, and I can feel loose hair strands peeking from the main braid, but I can fix that later. "Really? Thanks!" I say. "Oh," I add. "Look," I will my hair to change to brown, and grin at him. "You can do that? Oh, that's incredible!" He says.

A female satyr trots up to us. "Hey Gaurde," she says, then to me. "'Ey, kiddo. The name's Leyna," Leyna says. "Hey, so, uh, Gaurde," She starts. Leyna looks like Gaurde's female twin. They both had the tan skin, the brown fur. Both also have curly hair, but instead of short, brown hair, Leyna has long ginger hair, which she has up in a ponytail. "You up for another round? I'm sure I can beat you this time." She teases.

If you look closely, you just might think that Gaurde was blushing, but I think he is. He clears his throat, and…just like that the blush's gone. "Sure yeah, and do I hear a bet?" Gaurde challenges, crossing his arms. I grin. _Go Gaurde!_

Leyna grins back and also crosses her arms. "Three tins cans, Gar, and I'm gonna win this one,"

Tin cans?

"I hate to interrupt, but did you say 'tin cans'?" I ask.

"Oh they're the best, squirt," Gaurde tells me, rubbing his hands together. "And they're worth seeing your stunned face again, Ley. You're on!"

They canter back to their game, and I sit by the sidelines, watching them. The game went like this: the goat-man staue had targets on his face. Each team had six members, and there were two. Each member had one chance to sandblast it. The team who had the most points win. The targets that were most targeted (-_-) were the eyes—30 points—the mouth—35 points—and the nose—50 points.

I feel someone sit beside me. Must be a camper too, but I don't turn my head to him/her. I'm too entranced in watching the game too much to really care.

"Hi," I can tell from the voice that the camper's male, but I could be wrong. "Hey," I reply without taking my eyes from the game. "The new camper, right? Allison Vergara, yeah?" He asks. I wave a hand over my shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, YEAH BABY!" I scream as Gaurde and his team win with 240 points. Leyna and her team lost with only 230 points.

I run up to Gaurde and hug him. "You get the tin can—oh, nevermind," I stop because I can see the half-eaten can on his hand. He grins while Leyna scowls. "I will beat ya next time, Gar. Just you wait," Leyna says and skulks away. Gaurde shifts his weight to one leg, and chews happily into his tin can. "I'd like to see that happen Ley!" He calls out, and takes another bite from the can.

I laugh. "Well, aren't you two something?" Gar sighs. "Isn't _she_ something?" He replies in return. His eyes glaze and he sighs. "Well, aren't you infatuated?" Gar turns to me, and sighs again. "Well, isn't she amazing ?" I chuckle. Our conversation isn't really going to go anywhere at this rate. "Whatever, man. All I know is that you're in love with Le—"

Gar interrupts me, much to my disgust. "I'm not in lo—" Then says in a quieter tone, "I'm not in love with her! I just think she's…the ideal gal for me, you know?"

"Hn. Whatever, man," I say, giving up. He chuckles, taking another bite from the can, finishing it. I say goodbye to Gaurde, and turn around, only to bump into someone's chest. "Oof! Sorry," I nearly fall backwards, but he steadies me, holding me by the shoulders "Thank you," I say to the person, looking up.

He smiles. "I tried to talk to you a while ago," The guy starts, and I raise an eyebrow. Who…? "But you were too busy watching the game.

"Oh!" I exclaim. "You were…you were _that_ guy!" He chuckles. "I'm so sorry for not really paying attention to you," I smile sheepishly and brush the hair that has come loose from the main braid from my face. "I just…I like the game so much you know? And…I can only direct my attention to one thing at a time, if I focus too much that one thing,"

He chuckles, waving a hand to dismiss the thought. "Oh that's fine, I'm Andy by the way. Andy O'Conner." He says, holding out a hand. I shake my head. "No, you do it like this," I hold up a fist, and he does the same. "I hit yours first," The bottom of my fist hits the tops of his. "Then you hit mine," then vice versa. American characteristics are getting to me.

He grins. "I like that. Also your hair," He ruffles my blue hair. "Hey!" I say jokingly. He laughs. We walk outside. I wonder what time it is…

"Hey, O'Conner, do you have a watch?" I ask out of the blue. I was looking at the sky, and admiring the clouds and therefore did not see if any of his wrists had a watch on them.

"Yeah. It's 2:25," he replies. I nod. "Thanks,"

We spent the afternoon talking, and learning about the other. Turns out, his mother is Aphrodite. You know, goddess of love and beauty? Yeah, and I'm like, _'You don't seem to like it…'_ And in fact, he does hate…okay, not really _hate,_ but he doesn't also _like_ her in particular. He's thirteen, and has been at camp for three years. He's not your typical Aphrodite kid. They're all checking they're make-up or how they look. If they look pretty, or dashing. You know, like Narcissus.

Also, his hair color is this wonderful mix between brown and red. Kind of maroon, but I'll settle for red-velvety velvet. On top of his right ear a longer lock of hair was braided. It's a couple inches long. His mom told him it looks ridiculous. I think it looks cool. "I like it," I told him, playing with it.

"But there is a feather attached to the rubber band you use to tie it together. Why?" I asked. The feather is black on the tip, and gradually turns white on the other end.

His dark grey eyes seemed to grow darker. Now that I think of it, his eyes look like Annabeth's, but his are a darker shade. "My grandfather used to sell all kinds of birds. So naturally, I had a thing for them. Even now," He chuckles softly. "When I was a kid, I caught a random, local bird with a broken wing. Me being used to taking care of birds with my grandfather, nursed it back to health. I let the bird go, but it returned. I thought, maybe it wants to stay?

"So I kept it, but I never put it in a cage. I let her fly everyday, and for most of the day, she'd be gone. But everynight, she'd return and sleep on my bedside table," He pauses, looking up at the sky. I look up at his eyes. Then I wondered if I could change my eye color too, so I told myself to check later. "But then, when I woke up one morning, she was gone. She never flies away without my permission. The only thing that was left of her was this feather," His hand went up to touch the feather. "So yeah! Enough about that sad story," He laughed.

We decided to play this game called '20 questions' then. You get to ask 20 questions about that person. Any question. You both have to answer truthfully. At the end of the game, we knew each other pretty well, but that was…I don't know. I'm considering whether I trust him already. He's my friend, but not a _close_ friend.

"Oh, I almost forgot," I exclaim. "I have a pet owl," I tell him. I grin at his shocked expression. "But…owls aren't supposed to be made pets…aren't they?" I roll my eyes. "Yeah, long story. But I will tell you this: In my hometown, it's like, dogs to you, owls to us." I tell him. "She also broke her wing, but I think she's fine now. I need—" I stop in my tracks, and backpedal quickly. "I want her to heal quickly, you know?" I laugh nervously, but I don't think he noticed. "I worry about her. It's only natural for me to ensure my pet's in well-condition," he nods, buying it. I let outa sigh of relief, and he looks at me with an eyebrow raised. "Al?"

And again, I think an excuse fast. "It's the weather. It's really hot, you know?" I fan myself with both hands. He nods reluctantly, and I sigh again. _Quietly and slowly_ this time. I could imagine if this were a cartoon. My brain would've formed into a hand and gave me a smack in the head.

"Speaking of owls," I say suddenly, which makes Andy turn to me. "I have an errand to finish,"

"Can I come with?" Andy asks. I'm not sure if letting him come is the right thing to do…After all, he doesn't know the _other side_ of what I am, and what my owl does for me. "Are you sure?" I don't really want him to go with me…So please, leav—

"'Ey Dy!" Someone calls from behind. We both turn around. A guy older than both of us walks up to us and ruffles Andy red-velvet hair. They look a lot like each other. "Hey 'lil bro," The dude throws both of his arms around our shoulders. "Hey, you're Al—"

"Yeah, that's me," I say dismissively. "But I don't know you," I tell him with a grin. "Mind telling me?"

He laughs. "Where are my manners?" I chuckle. "I'm Colin,Andy's brother."

"As in, Cabin brothers? Or like Ty and me?"

"No," The two boys chuckle. "We're _really_ brothers. Same mom, same dad." Andy says. A smile breaks into my smile. "No way! I thought—okay this may sound rude—Aphrodite likes playing with a man's heart. I mean, after they have a child, she leaves, breaking the man's heart. Isn't that her whole point?" I state, confused.

They both shrug. "Even after mom sired him," Colin says, referring to his brother, who playfully punches Colin in the arm. "She never took care of us. I mean, she's a goddess,, what would you expect? But when I was younger neither of us knew that, so we were both angry at her, but then three years ago…well, long story short, we found out what we are and we've been here ever since," Colin finished his tale.

I grin. "You look a lot like each other, you know? But I like your eyes, Colin. They're like the sky," His eyes weren't anything like the normal sea blue. They were so light colored. Colin laughs. "I like your hair," he tells me and he ruffles them too. "Hey!" I place my hand on my hips. "What is with you too and my hair! They're messy enough as it is," they snort.

"You can call me Col, by the way." Colin tells me and turns to his brother. "Dy, I need you back at the cabin. Drew's gonna kill me if I show up without you. See you around, Allison!"

They start to walk away. "You can call me Al, by the way!" I call after them. Colin salutes. Just to say he heard me.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, I have to go to the infirmary to check on Snowy.

"Hey there, girl," I say soothingly as I pet my owl. She leans into my hand. "I think she can take flight now, Ally." Will says suddenly, making me flinch. "Geez, Will. Why do you have to be so quiet? You always take me by surprise." I say. Will grins. "But hey, at least your owl can fly now," as if on cue, Snowy flaps her right wing, as if to prove her point. "Well then, I'll just get the letter," I say. "See you later, Snowy,"

I was about to enter my cabin when someone calls me from behind. "Hey, sis!" That's definitely Tyler. Who else would call me 'sis'? I turn around. "Hey, bro!" I call back. He runs up to me and tells me, "Can I…Can I talk to you for a minute?" He seems nervous. I tilt my head. "Ty? Are you alright?" I put a hand on my hip. "If I didn't know you any better, I'd say you're nervous." I tease. He blushes lightly and looks away. "Oh, let's just get in already!" He says, flustered. I snicker.

He sits on the side of my bed. He keeps on fidgeting on his seat and wrings his hands. "So…? What is it that you wanted to talk about?" I ask as I sit next to him.

"You remember when I told you that I would think about the..uhm…Hogwarts thing?" At the mention of Hogwarts, my ears perk up, and I begin to get really excited, but I pretend to act like I don't care about it. "Yeah? What about it?"

"You see…I-I was…th-thinking…the o-other day about what you s-said…And I-I was th-thinking…" He keeps on stuttering. It sends me on edge. "Oh, just get to the point already!" Even though I tried to keep the annoyance out of my voice, a little still managed to creep into my tone. "Listen—" I mumble.

"I've decided to attend Hogwarts!" He suddenly blurts out. Now usually, I don't like people interrupting me while I'm talking, but I let them on occasional times, like this one. "Excuse me, bro…Could you repeat that?" I say, feigning innocence, yet a grin cracks into my face.

Tyler ruffles my hair, and we laugh. I'm too happy to care for my hair right now. "I said I'm attending, you idiot,"

I hug him tightly. "You know, I'm kinda happy you told me about the letter and what you are," I say softly. "And I'm glad that we made up. I mean, it _is_ kinda lonely without a sibling to talk to, or annoy…" I say mischievously. He grins. "If we have one thing in common, it's our weird pleasure to annoy someone. You should meet Travis and Connor Stoll. The best pranksters at camp."

"Travis and Connor Stoll? I think I've heard of them," I say, scratching my head. "They're the twins from the Hermes' Cabin, right?"

He nods. "No, they're not twins. Travis is actually older, but they look so alike, just some minor height differences. Anyway, you've probably seen them during your stay there,"

I shake my head. "Actually, no. There're soo many campers in there. Plus, I don't know how they look like, even now." I say.

"They're tall and skinny with a mop of curly brown hair that falls over their blue eyes. Travis is a bit taller than Connor, which is the only way we—and possibly you as well—can tell them apart. They have a crooked smiles to match their crooked personality. Connor is smarter, but Travis is more mischievous. You know, let's go find 'em. So that you may be properly introduced." Tyler starts to stand up, but I hold his wrist. "What?"

"I have to finish my letter. Aunt Natalya could've been expecting a reply…" I say. He lets out a sigh. "Fine."

"I'm also going to tell her about the whole wizard thing. And that you're gonna be attending Hogwarts," Tyler gives a half-hearted nod, then, " _What?!_ No, no. You can tell her!"

"How're she going to get your supplies, then?" I snap. "At the last minute? Get a grip, Ty."

" _Love, Allison…and quite reluctantly, Tyler,"_ I like saying what I was writing out loud. Tyler snorts at the last part. "Now that that's done, we should go to the infirmary." I stand up and take the envelope that lies on my bed. I fold the letter thrice and puts the letter in the envelope. I write our address at the back and added. _'To Harry too'_

"Come on," I say and we head out towards the infirmary. When we get there, Snowy having a snack. "Oh, hey Al, Tyler." Will greets. "Heyoo~" I say, acting pretty excited and giddy. "Well, who looks extremely happy today?" Will says with an eyebrow raised, but he is grinning. I grin back. "Finally, I can reply." I pat my owl.

About five minutes later, we watch Snowy take flight, but not before Will giving her the permission to enter camp. That's what was keeping Snowy from entering the camp's borders before.

Tyler and I start toward the cabins. "But, who's making the…I don't know, spell or something to protect the camp?" I ask my brother.

"Before there was a border, there was only the Mist to protect us from mortals. If they looked here, they would only see a strawberry field, but that doesn't mean we were safe from monsters," Tyler says grimly. "Zeus's daughter, Thalia, with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended were being chased down by multiple monsters, most sent by Hades to kill Thalia, since, you know the oath, and the River Styx, you know that, right?" I can only nod. "Anyway, a satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort them here and they almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill." He pointed across the valley, to a lone pine tree.

"All three Kindly Ones—the proper name is Furies, but don't tell anyone I told you that. We never say their proper names, if we can help it—were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill, and that's why only half-bloods can enter. That's why your owl can't." Tyler finishes his tale.

We were in front of my cabin now. The story…The girl, Thalia. Next to her, I feel pretty lucky. I'm a kid of Poseidon, and I know that monsters can smell my scent, my aura, yet I'm still here, still alive. While she lived like a hunted animal. It made me pissed for a while, but the anger quickly dissipated away. I'm no one special, but I hope someday…someday someone has to tell the gods to take care of their children. And don't make promises they can't keep.

I know that the last sentence is ironic, considering I am _technically_ a sin, but I don't care. If it means a better life for demigods like me, then I think it's worth it.

I tiptoe and hug my brother. "See you later, bro. It's getting late, and dinner's nearly ready. You should get back to your cabin," I say, he nods and starts to walk away, but I call out again. "Hey, Ty?"

He looks back. "Yeah?"

I smile a little. "You can trust me."

 **Author's Note:**

I don't know if any of you'll be reading this since I've lost internet connection for a long time and therefore have not edited and any of my chapters. Thank you all for reading until this far! I have this posted on my account too, but I'm not updating in there anymore. Maybe I will, and maybe I'll post his on my Wattpad account too, but I'm not sure yet~ Also, if any of you haven't noticed, I already added OC'S her.I'll be adding _a lot_ of OC's, since there are about a hundred campers in The Last Olympian. And, I mean c'mon Hermes's, Athena's and Ares's Cabins have a _ton_ of campers, right? Haha. xD

I know I have a lot of mistakes. Like at first I used past tense, then after a chapters, I use present tense, right? Well, I'm not a professional writer anyway, so don't expect much! :3 Also, some details may not add up to what I typed in the previous chapters, but I promise I'm trying my best. I always check out the first chapters for those details.

If you want your OC to appear in my story have note me, 'kay? :D

Also, I have Tumblr now! :D :D

Please favorite and leave a comment! Thank you so much!

This, by the way, is my longest Author's Note. xD xD

Wuvs,  
Igiko


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE: I Meet The Best Pranksters At Camp

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Harry Potter series or any of its characters. They belong to Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling respectively._

After Ancient Greek, I approach Annabeth as she cleans up her desk. "I'll help you with that," I wink at her as I take the eraser from her desk. "Oh," Annabeth says, smiling at me. "Thank you, Ally." I smile. "No prob, Annie."

"So," I say, starting a conversation. "You're close to Luke, right?"

She nods. "Yeah. He's like my brother, you know?"

"Since, they're his brothers, do you think he knows Travis and Connor Stoll?" I ask. Annabeth burst out laughing. My brows furrow, and I let out a sigh, making loose hair from my face fly away. "What _is_ so funny, Ms. Annabeth Chase?" I say, a little but angry.

Annabeth wipes the tears that had gathered at the edges of her eyes and slowly, her laughs turned to giggles, and then she was only smiling. She never got to answer the question, though. A scream pierced the air. I looked at Annabeth, and she looked at me, her face suddenly serious. But the serious face soon broke into a smile when, " _STOLLS!"_

"Come on," Annie says, grabbing my wrist and heading for the door. "I'll show you who they are,"

We reach the cabins as an Aphrodite girl—I'm assuming she is an Aphrodite kid 'cuz she had make-up all over her face…and powder all over her hair. I'll admit, the sight _is_ funny. Annabeth chuckles, and I let out a smile. " _Travis and Connor Stoll, this is the_ _last_ _time you will put powder_ in my _hairdryer!_ _"_ The girl screeches, but the two tall, lanky, and skinny dudes with brown hair—probably Travis and Connor—only laugh at her.

"No way, Brooke! You're not the boss of us!" The taller of the two—Travis, I think?—says. Campers from all around us react. I hear, "Boo!" and "Burn!" and "Oh, snap!" and a lot more others. "We're not done yet, Brooke, just you wait," the smaller of the two—I suppose that's Connor—snorts. Jeers and cheers erupt from the crowd, and I am among them.

Brooke just screams and storms away. People cheer and clap and flock around the brothers. Great. How am I gonna approach them now? But as quick as the campers came, it was a quick as they left, and soon only the Stolls were there.

"Hey, Travis! Connor!" Annabeth says, and that gets their attention.

"How come they always say your name first before mine?" Connor mumbles to his brother and elbows his ribs. Travis chuckles. "I thought you always knew! 'Cuz I'm older…wait, I think it's because I'm better-looking, aren't I, Annabeth?" he asks Annabeth when they come into hearing range. Annabeth snorts. "Don't answer, Annabeth," Connor interrupts. "It'll make his pride grow even bigger," Connor mumbles.

"Whatever, guys—" Annabeth starts, but they hold up a finger.

"Wait for it…and 3, 2, 1,"

" _STOLLS!"_ An even louder screech pierces the air once more. This time it was that damned Carrot-Top—I've changed the nickname. But, if you didn't recognize, it was Rebecca Smith. "What did you do now?" I ask, a hand on my hip. Travis grins. "We replaced all of her weapons," He says excitedly.

I raise an eyebrow. "And…? That sentence isn't finished…."

"With rubber," Connor finishes. At that, Carrot-Top marches out of her cabin with her hands full of rubber swords and daggers. "Damn you!" She curses and throws all of the things in her hand at the twins. Then her eyes land on me. I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

But she just screams again and storms away, cursing me and the twins all the way. I make a face. "The heck is your problem?" I grumble. My eyes follow her until she enters her cabin, where a certain figure stands, grinning at me. Rebecca gives him a harsh push and my brother stumbles, but laughs anyway. I raise my hand in greeting. "Hey, Ty!" and he goes jogs over to us.

"Anyway," Annabeth says suddenly. "Al, _they_ are the Stoll brothers. The best—and maybe sometimes annoying—pranksters at camp."

The two grin. "Pleased to meetcha, Allie!" Travis says. We high-five. "'Ey Travis, Connor," Tyler says from my right. "Hey, Ty,"

"My sister, Allison, doesn't know who you two are yet," Tyler says. "Mind taking her under your wing for a day?" I stare at him incredulously. "What? I mean—"

"Only one question," Connor says, serious face on. "Yeah?" I ask.

"Are you a fan of pranking? Or well, love pranking?"

A grin makes its way into my face. "Are you kidding?" I exclaim. "I…I _cannot_ put into words how much I _love_ it!"

Tyler grins. Annabeth looks at me with an eyebrow raised, but she was smiling. Travis puts an arm around me. "We'll teach you the basics, then!"

Tyler and Annabeth smile and then walk away. I can see that they were yelling at each other and kept pushing each other. I'm not sure if they are playing around, or if they're serious. "Sooo…" Connor starts. We starts walking. Where to, I have no idea…yet.

"You're Tyler's sister from another mister," says Travis. I smile, and say, "Excuse me?" and I chuckle. "But, uh. Yeah. It's exactly, like that," I say, nodding my head. Connor ruffles my hair. It's in a ponytail today, just simple, old ponytail. But that doesn't save it from getting messier. "I think your hair is awesome,"

I grin. "You do? Thanks!"

Okay, so first of, I had _such_ a fun day. We robbed the convenience store—I didn't like it at first, but…nyehh—pranked some naiads and driads, pranked some campers, and by the end of our itinerary—big word—we were soo tired and exhausted, but we all had grins plastered to our faces.

"Well, that was fun~" I chirp.

Travis ruffles my hair. "We know you did." I notice these two loves ruffling my hair.

We head to lunch and separate ways. After sword-fighting class with Luke,—I was…better than before…but I still suck—I head to my cabin and sit on my bed, contemplating what to do next. A grin makes its way into my face after an idea pops into my head. I take a towel from my duffel bag and an extra shirt, then I switch to my tank Camp Half-Blood shirt and shorts. I go around the cabin and head to the lake.

At first, I didn't want to jump in, so I sat at the dock and let my feet and legs touch the water. The water affected me because I wanted to feel the water, and not be dry.

But then someone pushed me from behind and I feel into the water.

Curses.

I realize I can breathe and see underwater, but I rise anyway, hair and shirt and everything wet. At first I was beyond pissed, but then I saw who it was, and my anger subsided a little. "Andy!" I yell. "What in the name of the gods was that for?" I ask, pushing myself up onto the dock. Andy bends down and grabs my arm, helping me up. "Thanks, but why?" My blue hair is all over the place. I ran a hand through it.

I was caught unawares then, and I also wanted to get wet, and so, I got wet.

"Nothing. Just wanted to try it." He says with a mischievous smirk.

I roll my eyes at him and take the towel to dry my hair, then I thought too late that I could will myself to be dry anyway, but nevermind. "You know I'll have to take my revenge on you, right?" He sits on the edge of the dock, and I sit next to him.

And idea comes to mind, and I push him from the dock, but he grabs my arm before I can retract it, and we both fall into the water. So much for revenge. I laugh underwater, causing an air bubble to escape my mouth. Andy makes a move to come up, while a stay down for a while. I decide that I want to stay dry now, and when I come up to the surface, I'm dry.

"Well…that's just unfair," He says, with a mock pout. I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head. "What is?" I ask. "You staying dry while I get wet." He says childishly. I laugh. " _That's_ what's getting you worked up?" So I will myself to get wet. Immediately my hair plasters to my face. "Better?"

We laugh. Andy pulls himself up onto the dock first then helps me up. I will myself to be dry again and hand him the towel. "Here. Go dry yourself." I command. He takes it and dries his hair first.

"You know, you wouldn't be in this situation if you hadn't pushed me in the first place," I say. He shrugs. "I hear you did some pranking today." He says.

I smile and lay down on the cold wood. "Oh yeah, had a lot of fun with them. You'd never get bored with them." He grins. "My sisters hate them. Some of my brothers too, but I don't. Besides, they never do anything to me anyway, so yeah. We're cool, I guess."

He takes his shirt off and puts it above me, then proceeds to drying himself. We talk about random things, about him, about me, about camp. Whatever pops into our minds.

After a while, he head back to the cabins. I says goodbye and goes toward the Aphrodite cabin, but I head for the stables. Once in hearing range, I hear Dip speak in my head.

 _You didn't bring anything._

I laugh, petting his rough nose. He neighs as a sign of protest.

 _I hate you…temporarily._

I giggle. "Oh, I love you too, you hungry, greedy horse!" I say as I press his face into my own.

 _You better bring me apples or sugar cubes next time, Allie. I mean it._ He stomps and neighs to emphasize what he is saying. I raise my hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, Dip. I promise, cross my heart," I cross my heart while saying, just to prove it. "So, how're the other campers treating you whilst I'm not here?"

He shakes his mane. _Horrible! Some of them pull on my mane when they hold it. Some of them grip it to hard for the fear of falling. Ugh. It's like they don't learn anything from their horse riding lessons. It's terrible._

I chuckle and pet his head. "Not everyone could be as gentle as I am, Dip. Deal with it," I say gently, but he neighs. _It's just horrible._

"Well, it's not like you can do anything, Dippy. Like I said, deal with it." I say a bit more firmly this time. He neighs once more, but doesn't say anything more. "There's a good horse,"

 _Hmph._

The next day was less active.

Today, I actually attended all my classes. No skipping classes, no distractions. It was about 5 o'clock in the afternoon when I finished. I decided to take a swim in the lake. So I head to my cabin to take a towel and extra shirt. I won't cheat. I want to actually get wet this time.

Fortunately, no one is around. No one to push me this time.

I chuckle lightly at the memory before I dive into the water.

I feel like the water splits up before me to let me through. I swim my way to the surface, and take a breath. I know I can breathe underwater, but it's like my mind and body knows that I want to be _normal_ for once, and so I act like a normal person when underwater.

I do a few laps, stop for a while, and do some more. I feel tired then, so I sit at the dock, dangling my feet over the edge. The water that touches my feet helps me feel energized, since swimming takes its toll, you know.

"Hey," I hear someone say from behind. I tilt my head back to see Andy. He's holding an apple in each hand. "Oh, hey," I say back. He rolls his pant's leg up to just the top of his ankle. The water reaches up to half of my foot, but he was taller than me, so, yepp. He sits next to me.

"I hope I don't get soaked this time," Andy says lightheartedly. I playfully punched his shoulder. "Don't make me then, dude." After a while, I dive into the water again, and do a couple more laps. "You can join in, you know," I call out to him. "No thanks!" He calls back. I stick my tongue at him and swim some more.

Just before dinner, I stop. I push myself up from the water and into the dock. Andy helps me. He gives me the towel and I dry my hair. "I should probably cut my hair soon…It's too much of a hassle…both in swimming and when moving," I say. He shrugs. "You can just tie it into a ponytail,"

I shake my head. "Yeah, but the ponytail keeps moving with me, and it's…I don't know. I just really want to cut my hair. Even just a little bit."

He shrugs again. He takes a bite into one and offers me the other. I take it and bite into it eagerly. "Thanksh," I say, mouth full. Then I remember Dip, and his requests for apples and sugar. I make a mental note to take some to Dip later.

 _About time._

Dip speaks in my head impatiently. I chuckles. "Yes, your highness. I have a couple of apples. I also have sugar if you want," I pet his head. He neighs.

 _Apple._

I put the apple in my hand and hand it to him. He nibbles on it keenly. "Another?" and he gorges the other just as fast. Soon after that, the sugar cubes vanish from my hand as well.

"Well, aren't you hungry?" I say teasingly.

 _It's your fault._ He stomps and neighs. _If you've brought me some a while ago—_

"You'll probably eat them just as fast. I know you, Dip," I smile, finishing his sentence for him.

 _Hmph._

At archery the next day, Will comes up to me just as I scored another bulls-eye.

"'Sup?" I say while aiming for the center again. Will smiles. "Yeah, Snowy arrived about an hour ago,"

I missed my mark. The arrow goes whizzing above it. " _What?"_ I hiss. My hands let go of the bow and arrow and one of them grabs his wrist. I drag him with me toward the infirmary, then stop in my tracks. "Wait, is she in the infirmary?"

"Yup!"

"Then let's go!" Not letting go, we ran toward the infirmary.

One we reach the place, a squawk gets my attention and my head snaps toward the sound of it. "Snowy!" I exclaim and pet my owl. I notice a letter tied to her leg. I take the dagger from my boot and quickly hack at the rope. Once untied, I shove the letter in my pocket, saving the contents for later.

Will appears beside me, grinning. He pats my owl. "She's been squawking non-stop ever since she got here," someone says from behind us. We both turn around so see who it is. It's a boy, definitely older than both of us. His black hair stuck up in the middle and one on the back. His black, rectangular glasses sat in the middle of his nose. His mouth is closed, and I can see buck teeth right there.

"Ally, this is John, my brother. John…well, I think you already know her name," Will introduces us. I shoot Will a look at the last part. We say hi to each other then our subject returns to Snowy. "I'm sorry if she's caused any trouble!" I say.

He shakes his head smiling, crinkles appearing at the edges of his blue eyes. "It's nothing really," he says, waving his hand. I return his smile. "See, she's got a package…now where is it…" I say the last part to myself mostly. My hand is currently fishing my pocket for the letter. My pocket has a ton of things, see. "Oh, here it is!" My hand shoots up, holding a wrinkled paper. "She's got something to deliver, and—" I quickly backpedal. I was about to say 'Owls usually deliver it as quick as possible. She was probably trying to get your attention.

So I say something instead. "it was important! Yeah," I say nervously, but I tried not to show it. John smiles again, "Oh, I see."

"Well, I better head back to archery now. Chiron's probably wondering where I've gone," I grin, heading for the door. "Nice meeting you, John! See you later!"

John pushes his glasses up his nose and waves "See ya!"

I head back to archery, and I must say I'm surprised to find my bow and quiver still there. No one picked it up, or put it out of the way. Actually, now that I think of it, it's not actually my bow. It's the archery class' bow. Since, my forging isn't going so well—I can hear how Beckendorf and Aesha laughed at me then. Nicolas tried to help, but still ended up laughing—and thus I haven't got my own weapon.

"Where in the world have you gone?" Chiron asks, appearing next to me. I almost jumped. "Oh gods, Chiron. Don't do that again…" I say, trying to get my wits back "Anyway, Snowy got back so I rushed to the infirmary and received this!" I say holding up the letter.

Chiron eyed me. "Fine," he says and he trots away. I shrug and start shooting at targets. Moving targets, still targets, whatever..

Later that night, I read the letter. It was from Aunt Natalya and Harry, again.

Aunt Natalya cussed and cursed my brother, prattling about why he didn't tell him, he was still family and all that. Harry's part was…kinder? And it was like, he was really talking to me. Unlike Aunt Natalya who looked like she was talking to herself while writing. Also, Aunt Natalya said that we would have to go to Diagon Alley once Ty sets foot in Britain, despite Harry's attempts at reasoning with her. (Since we would still have two weeks before the start of Hogwarts.)

I told Tyler about the letter the next morning. He was so confused and embarrassed that he demanded to see the letter for himself. He nearly barged into my cabin and messed up all my stuff just looking for it. We nearly fought. We could not have but he was being so stubborn. He read the letter and clicked his tongue and walked out. I said then "What's your problem?!" to which he replied, "My life!"

We made up after that afternoon and he agreed to Aunt Natalya's terms. I was so happy then that I hugged him and kissed his cheek. He smiled and ruffled my hair. Hey, at least I had someone else with me other than Harry. I mean, I know how to make friends and knew how to blend in quickly, but still. Harry's freakishly famous, so he's probably going to get mobbed by everyone, just like what happened in Diagon Alley, thus, you probably won't be able to hang out with him.

Anyway, my day was just so happy that I didn't care if the sword I did sucked (Nicolas: But it actually looked better. Just needs a little more straightening.)

But then, I bumped into someone, I nearly fell, but s/he grabbed my arm. "Hey, you okay?" I looked up. "Oh, hey John," I say with a grin. "Sorry, 'bout that! I'm quite in a hurry," he says, but takes his time talking to me. I raise an eyebrow. "Well, you probably should get going then. Seeing as you're in such a hurry and that it's probably something important," I say.

He smiles and something about his eyes makes you eye him curiously. "It's not actually important, and I'm not actually in a hurry," he says. "What would you lie?" I ask. He grins. "I know you love pranking so I guess it's safe to tell you this," at the work 'pranking', my ears perk up. "Yeah?"

He grins mischievously. "You up for pranking?"

I gasp. "No way. You're into pranking to?" I exclaim. He nods childishly. "Now, would you like to do some pranking with me?" He says poshly, kind of us British, but I take no offense. I actually find it funny so I say in a fake-real (What?) British accent, "I would love to dear sir," I chirp and take his hand that is outstretched. The British accent feels kinda weird in my tongue, after using an American one for so long.

"I have a friend who's British too, you know," He says while walking. My arm is looped around his, and I realize with a start that I barely reach his shoulder. "Than this kid who wants to be cool,"

I smile. "Cool~" He looks down at me and his eyes widen by just a fraction and his mouth open in a perfect 'O'. I begin to feel uncomfortable. "W-What is it?" I ask nervously, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he says, "Your hair color is AWESOME!" He says childishly. I grin back. "Thanks, John!"

He holds his hand up for a high-five. I frown at him. "I'm shorter than you, so," I apply weight to his shoulder to make him at level with me. He's brows shoot up but his hand stays the same. Once he's low enough, I oblige. "Better," He seems to realize the whole thing that had happened, and he smiles. "Now, let's get to that pranking, shall we?"


End file.
